Dec. 10, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - With five players in double figures, including freshman Chris Iles' (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings) career-best 17, the Colonels used a well-balanced offensive effort to run their way to a 96-53 victory over Huston-Tillotson Wednesday evening in Stopher Gym.

Iles, who went 5-for-7 from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line, was joined by sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley), who also scored 17 on the night. Bose added 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

The Colonels (4-3) outscored Huston Tillotson 58-16 in the paint, shooting 57.1% (36-of-63) from the floor on the night and holding the Rams to just 34.6% (18-of-52).

"We knew we were going to have to attack the paint, pound the ball inside and maybe forgo some of the threes that we normally shoot," said Head Coach J.P. Piper," and our guys responded and did what we asked."

Sophomore Dominic Friend grabbed eight rebounds, including seven off of the defensive glass.

Also reaching double figures were senior Ryan Bathie (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) with 15, freshman Fred Hunter (Denton, Texas/Denton) with 12 and sophomore Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison) with 10.

Nicholls recorded a season-high 22 assists on the night, led by Hunter's five. Iles and senior Justin Payne (Opelousas, La./Opelousas) each dished out four, with Bose adding three. The Colonels also established a season-best with 13 steals as Carter grabbed six and Hunter four.

The Colonels never trailed in the game, breaking a 2-2 stalemate with 7-0 run before the first media timeout. From then on, Nicholls took control, leading by as many as 14 in the opening half and building to an eight-point halftime lead (38-30).

"I challenged our guys at halftime to play with more intensity," noted Piper. "Maybe we underestimated how good [Huston Tillotson] was and didn't bring enough defensive energy out to start the game. So we made that adjustment at halftime and when that defensive energy picked up, we became much more efficient on the offensive end. We knew we couldn't allow them to continue to shoot well because it would give them a chance."

The second half was all Colonels, paced by Iles, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the closing 20 minutes. With just over two minutes remaining, Nicholls took it's largest lead of the night at 45 (96-51), but a pair of free throws for the Rams cut the final score to 96-53 in favor of the Colonels.

"We talked a lot in the preseason about defending out house and not giving up any games on this floor," Piper added. "Our guys do love to play here. We're going to work hard to defend our home court."

Nicholls will return to action on Saturday, traveling to Baton Rouge for a 3 p.m. tip-off with Southern. The meeting is the second of the year between the two squads, who met last Saturday in Stopher Gym with the Colonels winning 75-56.

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