Curtis Chiasson
March 20, 2015
1 down, 1 to go! Houma native wins Southland Freshman of the Year
March 25, 2015
The Cinderella story that the Nicholls State University men’s basketball team hoped to produce never materialized in the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Colonels have 21 turnovers they can thank for that.
The Colonels squandered a three-point halftime lead and fell to the University of New Orleans 82-73 in the opening round of the SLC Tournament on Wednesday night in Katy, Texas.
Houma Christian graduate and Privateers’ sophomore Nate Frye had 14 points in the effort – one of five UNO players to score double figures in the comeback effort.
But the story of the game, according to Nicholls coach J.P. Piper, was the Colonels’ inability to execute down the stretch in key possessions. The veteran coach said he attributes both things to his team’s depleted depth chart. Nicholls is without a senior in 2014-15, and several scholarship guys were out with injury.
“I started coaching for next year in the postgame talk just now,” Piper said. “We don’t have any seniors. I don’t want to make any excuses or take anything away from UNO, but we have six guys that are on scholarship that weren’t in uniform tonight.”
The Colonels’ loss is doubly disappointing when one considers that the team squandered one of its best shooting nights of the season in defeat.
“I started coaching for next year in the postgame talk just now,” Piper said. “We don’t have any seniors. I don’t want to make any excuses or take anything away from UNO, but the field and 12-of-20 from behind the 3-point-line.
The hot shooting allowed Nicholls to enter halftime with a 42-39 advantage. Nicholls’ biggest lead of the game was six – an advantage it enjoyed right after the two-minute mark of the opening half.
Amin Torres and Luka Kamber were the main cogs in the early success, combining for 25 points in the first 20 minutes on 9-of-10 shooting and 7-of-9 shooting from deep.
UNO coach Mark Slessinger said that it was his team’s gameplan to pack the paint, dominate the glass
and force the Colonels to operate from behind the arc.
Slessinger said he’s not surprised that Nicholls hit some shots. After all, this game marked the third meeting of the season between the teams and all three contests were close, hard-fought games that went down to the final minutes of play before being decided.
“I thought it was an incredibly competitive game,” Slessinger said. “I think any time you go back in the history of New Orleans basketball and we match up with Nicholls, it’s an incredible game each and every time we play. There’s never been a blowout that I can remember and looking back in the history, today was no different.”
In the second half, the Privateers made all of the effort plays down the stretch to secure the win. Out of the lockers, UNO struck first, scoring the first five points to take a 44-42 edge. The rest of the action was back-and-forth, but slightly tilted toward the Privateers who led 59-53 with 10 minutes to play.
UNO dominated the paint throughout the game, using ball movement and dribble-drives to control the second half.
The Privateers outscored Nicholls 45-22 inside, while also owning a 24-4 advantage on points off turnovers. UNO won fast break points by a 13-0 margin and won second-chance buckets by 12-4.
“I thought turnovers killed us,” Piper said. “And the points in the paint (as well). All season long, we’ve been the team that wins that battle, and they doubled us in the paint, which is uncharacteristic for us.”
“It was all about missed rotations (and) missed plays,” Colonels junior forward Sam McBeath added. “Plays that we are taught to make that we normally do make. For some reason, we couldn’t make them. It felt like we were a step behind.”
But for all of the Colonels’ struggles, the team never quit fighting. Out of the six-point hole, Nicholls bounced back and trimmed UNO’s advantage, including tying the game at 69 with 2:30 to go.
But for every run the Colonels made, the Privateers had an answer – most namely senior guard Kevin Brown. Despite being limited by an injury, Brown scored 24 points, including several key shots to keep the Privateers in front.
The senior had 14 second half points and was 5-of-5 from the field and 3-of-3 from the 3-point line.
“I felt a little pain in my foot, but I felt it was my job as a senior to keep those guys going,” Brown said. “They look upon me and the opportunity came for me to make some big shots and I made them.”
In the final two minutes, UNO made all the plays, going on a 13-4 run to close the win. The Privateers were flawless from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.
Colonels sophomore guard Ja’Dante’ Frye said he’s disappointed with the loss, which ends Nicholls’ season with a 10-19 record.
The E.D. White graduate said he doesn’t blame the team’s inexperience for the defeat, touting that he thinks the Colonels will rebound and thrive.
Frye will be one of Nicholls’ top returning players next season.
“I don’t feel like our lack of experience had a role in it,” Frye said. “All season we felt it was hard to win because we had a young team, but tonight, I don’t feel that our inexperience caused us to lose.”
‘We don’t have any seniors. I don’t want to make any excuses or take anything away from UNO, but we have six guys that are on scholarship that weren’t in uniform tonight.’
J.P. Piper
Nicholls men’s basketball coach
Nicholls State University guard T.J. Carpenter makes a move toward the basket during the opening round of the Southland Tournament matchup between the Colonels and Privateers. Nicholls lost the game 82-73, despite hot shooting. The Colonels turned over the ball 21 times in the loss, a stat that coach J.P. Piper attributed to Nicholls’ inexperience. The Colonels didn’t have a senior in 2014-15.
