March 8, 2008

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - The Colonels did not walk off the court on Saturday evening with a spot in the Southland Conference Tournament, but senior Adonis Gray did not let that stop Nicholls from closing out the season with a win in Stopher Gym as they beat McNeese State 75-63.

Gray was playing in his final game wearing a Colonel uniform, and he played like it with a game-high 19 points that included three electrifying dunks that brought everyone in attendance to their feet. The Thibodaux, La. native led off the second half with a backwards jam that was fed by junior Justin Payne.

Before the game, Nicholls' lone senior was honored with his parents James Favorite and Nadine Gray as head coach J.P. Piper presented him with a framed jersey.

"We are all going to miss Adonis as a basketball player and as a person next season. He really brought a lot of senior leadership to the team this season," said Piper. "I know the team and coaching staff were excited for him to go out with a win."

The Colonels (10-21, 5-11) won three of their last four under Gray's guidance as he finishes up his career with 1,221 points and 433 rebounds. For his career, he averaged 10.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, and finished 15th on the all-time scoring list.

Gray also got a lot of support from his teammates as Nicholls had five players in double-digits to get the season finale win. Following him across the decade mark was true freshman Anatoly Bose with 15 points and six rebounds and freshman Dominic Friend with 12 points and four rebounds off the bench. Rounding out the Colonels double-digit scorers were juniors Ryan Bathie and Payne with 10 each.

Nicholls built a game best 21-point lead in the second half at the 16:22 mark en rout to sweeping McNeese State (13-15, 7-9) this season. The Colonels trailed by as many as seven in the opening minutes of the game, but roared back to take a 38-25 lead at halftime. The Cowboys, who will play Sam Houston State in the opening round of the SLC Tournament next week, did out score the Colonels in the second half, 38-37, but it wasn't enough to give McNeese State a shot to retake the lead.

As a team, Nicholls shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) for the game from field goal range to McNeese State's 34.4 percent (21-of-61) mark. The Cowboys also struggled from three-point range as they only connected on 21.7 percent (5-of-23) of their shots to the Colonels' 33.3 percent (6-of-18) showing.

McNeese State did out rebound Nicholls 44-to-36 while committing four more turnovers, 15-to-11, than the Colonels.

Nicholls closes out the 2007-08 season with their first 10-plus win season since the 2000-01 campaign.