Colonels, Tigers men’s seasons end in conference tourney

Nicholls State junior forward Anatoly Bose did everything he could, but it just wasn’t quite enough to keep the Colonels’ season alive last Wednesday at the Southland Conference Tournament.

The 6-foot-6-inch Australian scored 40 points, but no other Colonel sniffed double figures, allowing Sam Houston State to spoil Bose’s big performance and score a 62-57 win.

The loss ends the Colonels’ season with an 11-19 record.

Despite falling short against the Bearkats, Nicholls coach J.P. Piper said he was proud of the way his team played against the Southland Conference’s best team during the regular season.

“We got the game we wanted and I told our guys in the locker room just now that Sam Houston was just a little tougher than us down the stretch,” Piper said. “They were a little more physical and they were able to play through some of the bumps and bangs.

The Colonels went to halftime trailing by just five points.

And while Bose swooped and scored at will, he was not able to get any help as his supporting cast shot just a combined 5-of-28 from the field.

But Nicholls was able to stay close thanks to a swarming defense that limited the Bearkats to one of its lowest scoring totals of the season.

Prior to last Wednesday’s game, Sam Houston had surpassed the 90-point plateau 11 times in the season.

“They were very capable of humiliating us tonight,” Piper said. “But I am happy with how we played … That was probably the best defensive effort we’ve had all year.”

With a youthful roster, Piper said the Colonels are looking to the future now that this season is behind the team.

“We don’t have any seniors,” Piper said. “These guys will all be back next year, so to come up a little short with no seniors on the floor against that team, it’s hard to be too discouraged. We wanted to win, but I think our brightest days are ahead of us for sure.”

Tigers see season end in Nashville with opening-round loss to Tennessee

In Nashville, the LSU men’s basketball team suffered the same fate as the Colonels and lost their opening game to Tennessee, 59-49 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Things looked promising for the Tigers early on as the team held a 10-4 lead midway through the first half.

LSU sophomore forward Storm Warren paced LSU in the opening half and had eight points and three rebounds.

The Monroe native scored just five points the entire game in the Tigers’ first meeting with Tennessee on Feb. 4.

LSU swarmed Tennessee’s offense and limited them to just 25 percent shooting in the opening half.

“I thought for the most part we were in a position where we could have came out with a win,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson.

But the Tigers shot just 35 percent on their own accord, allowing the Volunteers to take the ball into the paint in the closing minutes of the half and make an 11-4 run to send the game to the locker room tied at 21.

“We had some shots for us that didn’t go down,” Johnson said. “There were a couple of key possessions where they hurt us on the glass, but I can’t fault our effort. I can’t fault our execution.”

The Volunteers took their momentum into the second half and used a 25-13 run to start the second half to put LSU away for good.

The Tigers were done in by a lack of point guard production on Thursday.

Junior Bo Spencer, sophomore Chris Bass and freshman Daron Populist were a combined 1-for-13 from the field.

The loss puts an end to what was a painful season in Baton Rouge.

After advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year, the Tigers won just 11 games and just two SEC games.

But like Nicholls, LSU is relatively young and has just two seniors – only one of whom played significant minutes this season.

But that senior is forward Tasmin Mitchell, who averaged 17 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game on the year.

Mitchell had an opportunity to go to the NBA following last season, but decided to return to school.

“I don’t regret at all coming back. I wouldn’t change the decision for the world,” Mitchell said. “I’m glad I came back. I think I grew as a man and as a player. Coach Johnson allowed me to do that. Just because of the win-loss margin wasn’t how we wanted it to be, I don’t regret coming back and playing for Louisiana State University. I wear my purple and gold proud.”

But the Tigers will look to replace Mitchell with one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. LSU has the No. 10 recruiting class in the country according to ESPNU and has a Top 20 class according to Rivals.com.

Johnson hopes those new recruits with the team’s returning core will make his third year in Baton Rouge a charm.

“Well, the future’s bright. It’s definitely bright,” Johnson said. “Make no mistake about it. Everything that happened this year was – I don’t want to say it was expected to the degree it was, but the responsibility sits up here. My history dictates that I’ll get it correct. Believe me.”