Nov. 28, 2008

Box Score

NORMAL, Ill. - Nicholls held close, forcing a 59-59 tie with six and a half minutes left to play, but Illinois State scored nine straight as part of a 16-6 run to close out the game, claiming a 75-65 victory in the opening game of the World Vision Invitational Friday night at Redbird Arena.

"I'm really pleased with our team and the way we played," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "We have a ton of respect for Illinois State and looking at them on tape, we knew they were very good. I thought we came in and competed well and took them deep into the game. Unfortunately they made a run late and pulled it out, but that's what a veteran team is supposed to do on it's home floor."

The Colonels (1-2) were led by senior Ryan Bathie's (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) 17 points, the third-straight double-digit game for the 6-6 forward to open the season. Bathie handed out four assists, adding a steal as he went 7-for-14 from the floor, including three from downtown.

Backing up Bathie was freshman guard Fred Hunter (Denton, Texas/Denton), who added 15 points to a team-best five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Kellan Carter (Fresno, California/Edison) and senior guard Justin Payne (Opelousas, La./Opelousas) combined for eight assists and six steals, led by a career-high six handouts from Carter.

Four Colonels finished with six points, including freshman guard/forward Kyle Ford (Whitehouse, Texas/Whitehouse), who was part of 15 bench points for Nicholls.

Nicholls trailed through much of the second half, holding their only lead at the 12:19 mark thanks to a fastbreak layup from Payne.

In the opening half, the Colonels led for over a minute as a trey off the hands of Ford and a layup from Carter gave Nicholls a 24-20 advantage with just over seven minutes to go.

Illinois State's Osiris Eldridge led all scorer's with 24 points, while Champ Oguchi recorded a double-double, pouring in 18 points and grabbing 10 boards.

Nicholls outscored the Redbirds (5-0) 38-24 in the paint, but sent Illinois State to the line 21 times, 15 of which were converted - a major difference in the game.

"I'm pleased with my guys and to us hopefully getting better from this experience," Piper stated. "We're really scheming and planning for conference [play], so we really wanted to push our starters and challenge them to be tough. We had chances to go back and make some tough plays, but we couldn't follow through like Illinois State did."

The Colonels will return to the court Saturday, taking on UC Santa Barbara in the second day of the WOrld Vision Invitational, tipping at 8 p.m.

Fans can follow the action live on KLRZ 100.3 FM or by clicking the GameTracker link found at www.GeauxColonels.com.

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