Dec. 15, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - Nicholls' men's basketball team racked up 42 points off of 31 Blue Devil turnovers to run to an 87-45 victory and extend their winning streak to five games Monday night at Harang Auditorium.

"I love where we are defensively - putting a lot of pressure on the ball and playing passing lanes well," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "If we're not stealing it, we're causing a turnovers. Hopefully we can build on that. I think the challenge is to start doing it against some of our better opponents - not to take anything away from Dillard. They were scrappy and played hard and will have success in their league, but we need to do that against those teams in our conference. We've been pushing people and getting 14 or 15 turnovers a night, but tonight was exceptional."

The Colonels (6-3) had four players reach double figures in scoring, led by senior Ryan Bathie's (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) 19. Bathie was 9-of-14 from the floor, part of 56.3% (36-of-64) team shooting for a squad that entered the night as the No. 7 shooting team in the nation at 50.9% on the season.

Freshman Fred Hunter (Denton, Texas/Denton) and sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) each poured in 13 points and grabbed five rebounds apiece. Hunter and Bathie each finished with three assists, while freshman Chris Iles (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings) dished out a team-best four.

Also reaching double digits was senior Justin Payne (Opelousas, La./Opelousas, who added four steals and two assists to his 10-point performance.

The Colonel defense was overpowering, holding Dillard to 36.8% (14-of-38) shooting and grabbing 16 steals. Bathie, Payne and sophomore Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison) each tallied four steals on the night, with Carter adding seven points and four rebounds to his statline.

"We told the guys early in the first half that we didn't think we needed to keep lofting up threes," Piper noted. "We thought we could get to the front of the rim and finish some plays around the basket and to their credit, they did that."

Nicholls took advantage of the inside game, pouring in 66 points in the paint to Dillard's 14.

Freshman Joshua Johnson (Houston, Texas/Cypress Falls) also grabbed four boards and was one of three Colonels to record a blocked shot.

Another bright spot for the Colonels was the return of junior Mike Czepil (Hoppers Crossing, Australia/Thomas Carr). Czepil scored four points and got to the glass twice in his first game back since December of last year.

The Colonels will return to action Wednesday, traveling to Baton Rouge to take on LSU as part of three-straight games versus SEC opponents. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Fans can follow the action on KLRZ 100.3 FM, with the pregame show beginning 15 minutes before tip.

######