Sheila Alldredge
January 22, 2008
Lillie Reed
January 24, 2008NSU Sports Information Desk
Nicholls led at halftime, 45-40, but a strong second half by Texas State propelled the Bobcats to a 93-84 men’s basketball victory Saturday afternoon at Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos, Texas.
Texas State (9-8, 2-2) had four double-digit scorers in the game – three of which being bench players – as the Bobcats’ pine out-scored their starters, 66-27.
The only starter to cross the decade mark was Brandon Bush with 11 points, while bench player Brent Benson scored a game-high 20.
Also in double figures for Texas State were Brent Holder with 15 and Matt Fullenwider had 14.
Nicholls (6-13, 1-3) had five players in double-figures for the second time this season with true freshman Anatoly Bose leading the way for the Colonels with 16 off the bench. Posting his first double-double was freshman Dominic Friend with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Bose was a rebound shy of a double-double with nine in the loss.
Also scoring in double digits were juniors Ryan Bathie with 13, Gil Verner with 12 and Justin Payne with 11.
The last time that Nicholls had five players score in double figures was against No. 1-ranked North Carolina exactly one month ago. The Colonels lost that contest 88-78.
“I thought that we went through a stretch where we didn’t attack the rim, which cost us in the second half,” said Nicholls State coach J.P. Piper. “It will be good to get back on our home floor Saturday after being on the road three of the last four games.”
The Colonels went in the locker room at halftime nursing at five-point lead with Verner leading all Nicholls’ scorers at midway through with 12 points off the bench.
The first half had a total of five lead changes and five ties, with Nicholls sinking 8-of-18 three-point attempts.
Of the three-point shots, Verner had three credited to him in leading the Colonels to the halftime lead.
Nicholls was in front through the 12:14 mark when Brent Benson, who had 12 points in the first half, sank a three-pointer from the right side to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game, 19-16.
However, Bathie scored five straight, and then Verner moments later nailed three consecutive three-pointers to regain the lead, 36-33, at the 4:52 mark.
The second half started out with a bang as Texas State went on an 11-2 run to open up the final period to recapture the lead and never look back.
The Bobcats scored 53 second half points to the Colonels’ 39 to get the victory.
Nicholls had 18 turnovers in the game that led to 23 Texas State points, while the Bobcats committed 13 turnovers, which led to 12 points for the Colonels.
Nicholls was also outrebounded 43-to-39, while compiling a better field goal percentage with a 46.2 percent (30-of-65) mark to Texas State’s 43.3 percent (26-of-60) showing for the game.
The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 26, in Stopher Gym against in-state and conference rival Southeast Louisiana at 4 p.m.
