Jan. 31, 2008

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. - Nicholls out scored Northwestern State 35-34 in the second half and led by as many as seven in the early goings of the second stanza, but failed to hold on as they lost 70-67 to the Demons on Thursday night in Prather Coliseum.

The game had a total of 14 lead changes with 10 of them coming in the second half, while the score was tied a total of six times with four of those ties coming in second period. The Demons' Keithian Hancock broke the 64-64 tie with 23 seconds left as he caught a loose ball off an inbounds pass and heaved it up as the shot clock ran out.

On the ensuing possession, the Colonels turned it over and the Demons got the fast break dunk to go up 68-64 with nine seconds left. Nicholls' junior Gil Verner then was fouled while shooting from behind the arc, and made all three free throws to cut the lead to one with 5.8 seconds left. The Colonels immediately fouled on the inbounds pass, but the Demons' Trey Gilder, who leads the conference in scoring, sank both free throws to seal the victory.

"The team played hard, but we are going to have to clean up some things up if we expect to win, especially at the free throw line," said head coach J.P. Piper. "We are looking forward to getting back on our home floor on Saturday."

In the loss, junior Ryan Bathie broke the school record for career three-pointers with his 4-of-8 performance from downtown that gave him 174. Former Colonel and current Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Robert Lee previously held the record since the 1990 season at 173 career three-point baskets.

Bathie tied for game high honors in points with Northwestern State's Gilder as they each rung up 16 points. Bathie was also just one rebound away from a double-double in the loss with nine. The Colonels (6-15, 1-5) had two other players in double-digits in the game with true freshman Anatoly Bose crossing the decade mark for the eighth consecutive game with 12-points. Verner had 14-points off the bench in 23 minutes for Nicholls to round out the Colonels double-digit scorers.

The Demons (8-13, 4-3) had three other players in double-digits besides Gilder with Michael McConathy adding 13 and C.J. Clark having 12. Northwestern State's Colby Bargemen was the only other Demon to have 10-plus with his 11 in 28 minutes on the hardwood. Jerry Moody only had two points for the Demons, but he did have a game best 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Nicholls had 20 turnovers in the contest that led to 25 Northwestern State points, while the Demons dominated the fast break points, 14-to-2. As a team, the Demons shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the floor and 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from downtown while the Colonels shot 39.0 percent (23-of-59) from field goal range and 34.6 percent (9-of-26) from three-point land. Nicholls struggled at the free throw line as they only made due on 52.2 percent (12-of-23) of their free ones, while the Demons were 65.0 percent (13-of-20) from the charity strip.

The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday February 2 at 5 p.m. in Stopher Gym against Central Arkansas (12-9, 2-6). The Bears swept the Colonels last season.