Dec. 22, 2008

Box Score

JACKSON, Miss. - Back-to-back treys from sophomore forward Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) with just under three minutes remaining cut the Mississippi State lead to six points, but the Colonels couldn't stop the Bulldogs at the free-throw line, falling 74-68 Monday night at the Mississippi Coliseum.

"At halftime, we talked about making them [Mississippi State] beat us," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "Let's show up and do what we do to the best of our ability. We did that for about two thirds of the second half. We came out in a little bit of a funk and they knocked us in the mouth and got up by 20 points."

Senior forward Ryan Bathie (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) added a layup less than a minute later to bring the Colonels within five, but the Bulldog's impressive shooting at the line was too much for Nicholls to overcome.

Three Colonels reache double figures, led by Bose's 20 points. Bathie poured in 18 and was Nicholls' leader on the boards with 12, while freshman Chris Iles (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings) added 10.

After using 16-of-18 (88.9%) free-throw shooting in the first half to take a 34-22 halftime advantage, the Bulldogs opened the second half with a 13-5 run to build their lead to 20 (47-27), the largest of the game. On the night, Mississippi State went 29-of-38 from the line shooting 76.3% for the game.

"To our credit," Piper noted, "we never quit and managed to get it back and make things a little tense there for a second for them. I'm excited that our guys showed that character and that we were able to put our brand of basketball on the floor in the second half."

The Colonels cut the lead to 13 with just under eight minutes to play thanks to back-to-back buckets from Bathie and sophomore guard Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison).

Carter, who entered the game ranked 43rd in the nation in steals per game, finished with five on the night as the Colonels forced 13 Bulldog turnovers.

Nicholls continued to battle as senior guard Justin Payne's (Opelousas, La./Opelousas) fast-break layup off of his own steal and an Iles jumper brought the Colonels within 10, 61-51.

Bathie reached double figures early, laying one in from under the basket at the end of the first half to reach 10 points and lead the Colonels at the break.

Nicholls held an early advantage, leading through the first nine and a half minutes of the game by as many as four until a pair of Barry Stewart free throws put Mississippi State on top for good in the half.

"I didn't feel like we put our best 20 minutes of basketball together in the first half," added Piper. "I don't say that to take anything away from Mississippi State. I just thought we shot ourselves in the foot a lot and didn't always understand what we were trying to do. We weren't on the same page."

While rebounding was even through the opening minutes at 17, the Colonels led on the offensive glass with nine, taking advantage with seven second-chance points.

The Colonels will break for the holidays, resuming play on Jan. 3 when they travel to Oxford, Miss. to battle the Ole Miss Rebels.

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