Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Colonels had to settle it in overtime for the third consecutive game, but unlike the previous two that resulted in losses, Nicholls picked up the 74-71 win over McNeese State on Cox Sports Television in Burton Coliseum.

Nicholls played arguably their best half of the season in the second stanza as they shot 56 percent (14-of-25) and an astonishing 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from behind the arc to overcome a six-point halftime dearth. It was only the second game of the season that Nicholls overcame a halftime deficit. All of the Colonels nine points in the extra five minutes came at the free throw line en rout to their victory.

"The way we played tonight is how we are suppose to play the game," said head coach J.P. Piper. "We really challenged our guys, and they responded and grew up a lot today, especially in the second half."

Junior Ryan Bathie, who sat almost all of the first half, came out with a vengeance in the second period as he drained his first three three-point attempts to help the Colonels claw their way back after a six point deficit at halftime. Bathie scored all of his 19-points in the second half and overtime, and sank a three-ball at the 14:16 mark of the second half that gave the Colonels a 41-40 lead - their first lead since the 18:08 point of the first half.

Nicholls extended their lead to as many as nine at the 9:08 mark of the second half, but McNeese State remained resilient and recaptured the lead on a second chance dunk by John Pichon with 4:02 left in regulation. Pichon's put back signified a 10-0 run before Bathie drained a long-range three to stop the bleeding.

The Colonels (7-17, 2-7) gave up an 14-5 run to start the game, but fought back after being down by as many as nine to go into the locker room at halftime down only by six, 29-23. In the first half of play, freshman Anatoly Bose had a team-best eight points to keep Nicholls in the thick of things early on. Also getting in on the action in the first half and making the most of his playing time was sophomore Reggie Shanks who had a career high six rebounds and season best four points in only 14 minutes in the first period. Leading the Cowboys (8-12, 2-6) at half was Kapelan with nine points, all of which came from behind the arc.

Nicholls did a lot of shuffling with the lineup in the first half as Bathie only played a minute, Payne only played seven, and Gray only played eight. The only two starters that played more than 10 minutes in the first half were sophomore Chris Paige and Bose. Paige played 11 while Bose accumulated 19.

"We wanted to try and shake things up and give our non-starters a chance, and they really did a good job," said Piper.

For the game, Bathie led all Colonel scorers with 19 and six rebounds while Payne added 14 that included a 4-of-4 mark shooting from behind the arc. Bose extended his consecutive 10-plus performances to 11 with his 12 point effort, and Dominic Friend came off the bench to score 12 as well to round out the Colonels double-digit scorers. Even though Shanks didn't score cross the decade mark, he did establish new career highs in points with seven and rebounds with seven.

McNeese State had three players in double-figures with Kapelan leading the way with 24 and was followed by Kleon Penn and John Ford who each had 11. Penn also had nine rebounds and five blocks in the game.

The Colonels will be back in action this Thursday at home versus Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.

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