The Nicholls State University men's basketball team saw its five-game Southland Conference win streak snapped with an uncharacteristically sluggish offensive performance, dropping a 67-63 decision to Southeastern Louisiana at the new Broussard Court at Stopher Gym on Saturday night.
Nicholls (13-9 overall, 7-2 in the SLC) was ranked 12th in the country on offense and first in the conference entering the game.
The Colonels came out hot, opening a 9-0 lead in the first 3 minutes before a Southeastern time out.
After the time out, everything changed.
Southeastern (13-9 overall, 7-2 in the SLC) started to hit shots, slowing down the game to pace more to the Lions’ liking, and Nicholls suddenly found itself down 14-13.
The Colonels found their shot again, going on a 6-0 run, but could not sustain it, as the Lions tied the game up at 29 with a minute left in the first half.
The half ended with a 31-31 tie.
“We didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball,” Nicholls coach Richie Riley said. “We didn’t do a good job of executing on offense or on defense. (Southeastern) turned it into their kind of game, slowing it down, cutting down the number of possessions. They did a good job of keeping the score in the 60s, and we’re averaging 85 points a game. We just let them turn it into their kind of game, and that hurt us offensively.”
The teams exchanged shots at the beginning of the second half, but again, Nicholls found its stride offensively, going on a 13-0 run to make it 50-38 with 12 minutes left.But again, the Colonels could not sustain the momentum.
Nicholls went over 7 minutes in the second half with only a lone free throw, as the Lions went on their own 17-1 run to lead 57-51 with 4 minutes left.
Four different Colonels scored on four straight possessions to cut the lead to 58-58, but the Lions countered with two free throws and a layup to lead by five with a minute and a half left.
The Colonels had a shot to tie in the last 10 seconds. Kevin Johnson (9 points, 5 steals) was fouled on a three-point attempt.
Johnson hit the first but missed the second. A deliberate miss on the third attempt was rebounded by Southeastern.
“We missed some shots and turned the ball over,” Riley said. “When we got up 12, we settled a little too much. We settled, and we turned the ball over, allowed them go get into transition. We just didn’t do a good job putting them away.”
Roddy Peters led the Colonels with 22 points, while Tevon Saddler had 10, to go along with 10 rebounds.
Moses Greenwood had 20 for the Lions, with Marlain Veal hitting for 15 and Eddy Polanco hitting for 11.
Nicholls was also 1-of-10 from the 3-point line.
Before the game the refurbished court was named in honor of former Nicholls men's basketball coach Rickey Broussard, who led the Colonels to their only NCAA tournament appearances and only two SLC championships in the 1990s.