Nicholls 73, Mobile 69

THIBODAUX, La. – Fending off a late University of Mobile rally, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team's season began the on the right foot by defeating the Rams 73-69 in their exhibition game Thursday night in Thibodaux.

The Colonels hit seven three pointers in the game which proved to be the difference as the Colonels were led by Trevon Lewis' 18 points and five rebounds off of the bench. On the night, the Nicholls bench stepped up big for the team, outscoring UMobile 44-22 as Chris Talkington also came off the bench to score 17 points.

Each team had trouble holding the ball with 41 combined turnovers on the night, but the Colonels were able to capitalize on UMobile mistakes to the tune of 11 steals and 24 points off turnovers. 

Holding an eight point lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game, the Colonels and Rams turned the ball over six times to halt any type of solid possession for either team. But with the score 70-63, the Colonels would only get one more point from the 3:59 mark until 56 seconds remained on the board, while the Rams would claw to within two of Nicholls during that period going 5-of-8 at the free throw line.

The turning point came with less than a minute left and down two to the Colonels, UMobile's Brock Dockery turned the ball over after stealing the ball from Shane Rilleux and fouled Dantrell Thomas putting him at the line with two shots to extend the lead. Thomas would only make one of the two shots, and instead of taking the three to tie the game, Rams guard Ji Kimbrough drove though the lane to try and force an and-one, but the shot fell short before a foul sent Chris Talkington to the line to ice the game making one of his two free throws.

Nicholls had a dogfight with the NAIA-members early falling behind multiple times and by as many as seven points in the beginning portion of the second half, but an 11-0 Colonel run that spanned nearly three minutes was enough for the Colonels to take the lead and keep it for good.

Rilleux was the only starter to score in double figures for Nicholls, finishing the night with 12 points, while the Rams had four players score in double figures as Kimbrough had 17 points, as Antonio Hester finished with 12 points and 17 rebounds.

Senior Ben Martin played lock-down defense with a team-high six steals to go along with his five assists and five rebounds, as the Colonels as a whole limited the Rams to just over 40-percent shooting and 21-percent from behind the three-point line.

The Colonels shot 11 of their 18 free throws in the second half and went 4-of-9 from behind the three point line in the final period.
Nicholls will open the regular season Nov. 12 against LSU in Baton Rouge as part of the Tigers' Homecoming basketball-football doubleheader.