Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Tex. - Nicholls led at halftime, 45-40, but a strong second half by Texas State propelled the Bobcats to victory over the Colonels, 93-84, on Saturday afternoon in Strahan Coliseum.

Texas State (9-8, 2-2) had four double-digit scorers in the game with three of them being bench players as the pine out scored the starters for the Bobcats 66-to-27. The only starter to cross the decade mark was Brandon Bush with 11-points, while Brent Benson led all scorers in the game with 20. Also in double-figures for Texas State was Brent Holder with 15 and Matt Fullenwider had 14.

Nicholls (6-13, 1-3) had five players in double-figures for the second time this season with true freshman Anatoly Bose leading the way for the Colonels with 16 off the bench. Posting his first double-double of his career was freshman Dominic Friend with 15 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. Bose was a rebound shy of a double-double with nine in the loss.

Also scoring in double-digits were juniors Ryan Bathie with 13, Gil Verner with 12, and Justin Payne with 11. The last time that Nicholls had five players score in double-figures was against No. 1 North Carolina exactly one month ago as the Colonels lost that contest 88-78.

"I thought that we went through a stretch were we didn't attack the rim, which cost us in the second half," said head coach J.P. Piper. "It will be good to get back on our home floor next Saturday, after being on the road three of the last four games."

The Colonels went in the locker room at halftime nursing at five-point lead with Verner leading all Nicholls' scorers at the midway with 12-points off the bench. The first half had a total of five lead changes and five ties, with Nicholls sinking 8-of-18 three point attempts. Of the makes from three-point land, Verner had three credited to him in leading the Colonels to the halftime lead.

Nicholls was in front all the way to the 12:14 mark when Brent Benson, who had 12-points in the first half, sank a three-pointer from the right side to give the Bobcats their first lead of the game, 19-16. However, Bathie scored five straight, and then Verner moments later nailed three consecutive three-pointers to regain the lead, 36-33, at the 4:52 mark.

The second half started out with a bang as Texas State went on an 11-2 run to open up the final period to recapture the lead and never look back. The Bobcats scored 53 second half points to the Colonels' 39 to get the victory.

Nicholls had 18 turnovers in the game that led to 23 Texas State points, while the Bobcats committed 13 turnovers which the Colonels only scored 12 points off of in the loss. Nicholls was also out rebounded 43-to-39, while compiling a better field goal percentage with a 46.2 percent (30-of-65) mark to Texas State's 43.3 percent (26-of-60) showing for the game.

The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday January 26 in Stopher Gym against in-state and conference rival at 4 p.m.