NSU basketball team’s second-half rally falls short

NSU Sports Information Desk

Nicholls State outscored Southeastern La. 10-2 over the last two minutes, but their late game comeback efforts fell short as they fell 54-52 to the Lions in the University Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Colonels put together a 36-point second half lead while limiting the Lions to just 21 points. SELA’s Kevyn Green gave Nicholls new life with 2:00 minutes left as he fouled out and was called for a technical, which ultimately resulted in a four-point swing after true freshman Anatoly Bose and senior Adonis Gray made both of their free throws to make the score 52-44.

With time winding down, Nicholls was forced to foul and the Lions’ Dekyron Nicks made both his free throws to extend the lead 54-49 with 32.2 left in the game. Nicholls then went down and tried to get the quick bucket, but SELA’s Patrick Sullivan rejected junior Justin Payne’s shot which left the Colonels with minimal time to come back.

Payne did, however, score the game’s final three points as he nailed one from behind the arc as time expired to make the final score 54-52.

“I was really proud of the effort in the second half. We challenged them at halftime to play better in the second half and they did,” said coach J.P. Piper. “We never stopped challenging the rim in the second half. The team showed in the second half that they want to be champions, they want to win,” said Piper.

For the game, Nicholls had four players in double figures, with Bose leading the way with 13. Bathie, Payne and Gray each contributed 12 points in the loss. Leading the Lions in scoring was Nicks with 13 followed by Green with 11.

Headlining the Colonels at the half was Payne with seven points.

The Colonels had 12 turnovers after the first 20 minutes was in the books to go along with no assists while the Lions had 10 turnovers to their six assists.

Nicholls will be back in action in Stopher Gym against Northwestern State (12-14, 8-4) on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

The Demons are currently in second place in the SLC East.

NICHOLLS TRACK SHINES

AT SLC CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Nicholls Track team came close to winning some events outright while also breaking some school records in the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships held this past weekend.

Highlighting the event for Nicholls was Chelsea Dockery in the high jump as she leapt a school-best 5-6 m. to place fourth in the SLC Championships. Dockery’s new career best out did her previous high mark of 5-4.75m.

Also breaking records was Dominique Harris in the Pentathlon as she rung up an all-time best 3,112 total points which placed her 10th in the championships. Harris’ previous best in the Pentathlon was 2,644 while the school record was set by Shayann Crabtree in 2001 with 2,665 points.

Harris also set new career marks in the high jump as she recorded 5-2.50m which was good enough for second all-time.

In the 4x400m relay, Nicholls’ team of Leshea Jenkins, La-Nation McCray, Ashley Carpenter and Sabrina Henkes ran a school record 3:57.66, which topped the core’s previous best of 4:00.62. Their time placed them sixth in the championships.

The Colonels also experienced similar success in the Distance Medley as the team of McCray, Imma Kosgei, Marion Chebet, and Eunice Jepkogei broke Nicholls’ record as they ran a school best 13:01.84 to finish ninth in the championships.

Carpenter also rung up a school record 25.83 in the 200m dash, and surpassed her pervious best of 26.49.

Climbing in the Top-5 all-time in the record books was Chebet with her run of 2:24.94 in the 800m run that placed her second on the prestigious list.

Chebet’s previous best was 2:27.04 heading into the championships.

Jepkogei also kept her upward climb in the Top-5 going as she notched a 10:51.30 in the 3000m run that moved her into second place all-time.

Her previous best in the 3000m was 11:00.54. Jarina Guilbeau also moved up further on the Top-5 list in the 60-meter hurdles with a 9.35 time that placed her third on the list. Guilbeau’s previous best was 9.39.

The Colonels will kickoff their outdoor season in Mobile, Ala. at the Premier Invitational hosted by South Alabama on March 8.

SOFTBALL TEAM SPLITS IN FINAL

The Nicholls State softball team suffered a 4-2 loss in their first match-up of the day to host school Mercer, but closed out the Wingate Inn Classic Tournament with a 4-1 victory over Sun Belt Conference member Western Kentucky.

Seniors Kat Harrell and Rachel Pugh and junior Kodi Butler were named to the All-Tournament team for their roles in leading Nicholls to a 2-1 record in the Classic.

Leading the way for the Colonels at the plate was Pugh as she finished 2-for-3 with a double, while sophomores Leah Bland and Karla Troxler and freshman Tori Lay all had a stolen base.

Nicholls played at Southeastern La. to kick off Southland Conference play yesterday (Tuesday) at 5 p.m., but the results were unavailable by press time. The Lady Colonels finished the series today with games at 3 p.m. and 5.