Bruce J. Hebert
December 11, 2006
Houma man leads police on chase
December 13, 2006
After playing nine straight games on the road, the Nicholls State Colonels played there first home game of the season Saturday, falling to the North Texas Mean Green 74-71.
Down 74-71 with 26 seconds remaining, the Colonels got a defensive rebound following a missed shot by Rich Young. The Colonels took the ball up the court and set up the three point shot by Ryan Bathie, who had five three pointers on the night, the ball however bounced off the rim. The Colonels’ Aaron Scott grabbed the rebound and dished the ball back out to Bathie at the top of the key with 12 seconds left, but this time the shot fell short and Ben Bell grabbed the rebound for the Mean Green.
Nicholls State Head Coach J.P. Piper said he would put his faith in Bathie anytime with the game in the line.
“I’d put my chips on him anytime,” Piper said. “It just happens that the shot didn’t fall.”
The Colonels led by as many as 12 (32-19) with 4:37 remaining in the first half but a 19-2 run by the Mean Green cut the lead to 32-29 at halftime.
North Texas Head Coach Johnny Jones said his team appeared too relaxed in the first half
“I thought we were sitting back on our heels at the beginning of the game and allowing them to control the tempo,” Jones said. “Playing a team the caliber of Nicholls, if you allow them to shoot a high percentage, they are going to be successful. We were able to come up with turnovers and convert them into baskets for us.”
Saturday’s game was the fourth straight time the Colonels loss a lead at halftime.
“This has happened to us the last couple of games,” Piper said. “We’re in control of things and then the wheels fall off. I thought we had a realistic chance to steal one, unfortunately we struggled shooting the ball early and then we had that little lapse in the last four minutes of the first half.”
The Colonels increased there lead to 35-29 following a Bathie three-pointer to start the second half.
The Colonels maintained the lead 49-45 following a pair of free throws by Stefan Blasczczynski at the 13:05 mark but the Mean Green used a 15-0 run to take a 60-49 lead with 8:46 to play.
The Colonels pulled within three following a dunk by Adonis Gray at the 5:05 mark to cut the lead to 66-63 but the Mean Green used a 5-0 run to take a 71-63 lead.
Once again the Colonels closed the gap to 71-68 with 2:21 to play. However, the Mean Green responded again on a three pointer by Calvin Watson to take the 74-68 lead with 1:53 remaining.
Blasczczynski scored the final basket of the game with a three pointer at the 1:34 mark to make the score 74-71.
“If things go differently then we could have been up ten or 15 points at halftime,” Piper said. “I’m still proud of my guys and they are still learning. We are still not right where we need to be but if we can polish things up and play as good as we did today then I still think we will be a good team.”
Bathie led all Colonels with 22 while Watson finished the night with 21 for the Mean Green.
With the win the Mean Green improved their record to 7-2 while the Colonels fell to 0-10.
Photo by Doug Keese/NSU/ Nicholls’ sophomore Ryan Bathie scored a career-high 22 points against North Texas, Satuday at Stopher Gym. The Colonels loss 74-71, and fell to 0-10 on the season.
