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For the sixth time this season, the Nicholls State University men’s basketball team needed overtime. And for the fifth time, the Colonels escaped with a win.
After a physical 40 minutes were not enough to determine a winner between No. 3-seeded Nicholls and No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the Colonels outscored the Islanders 12-4 in overtime for an 81-73 victory Tuesday night to advance to the title game of the 2024 Southland Conference Tournament.
The Colonels (20-13) will take on top-seed and tourney host McNeese (29-3) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. inside the Legacy Center for the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The game will air on ESPN2.
Nicholls scored the first points of overtime and never trailed in the extra period. Leading by two with a minute remaining, Michael Gray Jr. sank a three-pointer at the top of the key to all but put the game away. The Colonels came up with two stops down the stretch while Gray added three free throws to finish off with a game-high 23 points in the victory.
Gray stuffed the stat sheet, coming up a rebound shy of a double-double while adding five assists and four steals. Diante Smith carried the offense in the first half with 18 of his 22 points, and Byron Ireland scored all 16 of his points after the intermission. Robert Brown III finished in double figures as well with 12 points.
Although the Islanders (21-11) snapped the Colonels’ string of three straight opponents under 40 percent shooting, they finished just about the mark at 41 percent. The Islanders made just one field goal in seven attempts in overtime.
For the game, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi led 14-8 after an Owen Dease three-pointer with just under 12 minutes to go in the first half. But Nicholls exploded for a 14-0 run to take command. The Colonels got four three-point plays during the stretch as Smith and Gray hit a shot each from behind the arc, while Smith and Brown finished off the old-fashioned variety.
Nicholls led by 12 before the Islanders closed out the half on a 10-3 run, putting the score at 35-30 at the break.
In the second half, the Islanders scored the first six points to regain the lead. But from then on, it was nearly deadlocked for the rest of regulation. Nicholls went back on top and never trailed again, but the Islanders tied it up six times.
With the Colonels up 67-63 and three minutes remaining, Dease cut the lead in half with a pair of free throws. Dian Wright-Forde followed with a field goal to tie it, then Ireland continued his impressive second half with another bucket inside. But Wright-Ford countered with another field goal with 90 seconds remaining which turned out to be the final points of regulation.
Oumar Koureissi had a chance to put Nicholls ahead but missed two free throws, but he came up big at the end by blocking Stephen Giwa’s field goal at the buzzer.
In overtime, Nicholls did most of its scoring at the free throw line by sinking 7 of 10. The Colonels had a solid day at the charity stripe, making 24 of 33.
Garry Clark led the Islanders with 17 points and Jordan Roberts added 16.
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McNeese swept the regular season series against the Colonels with 74-47 and 83-62 victories.
