Jan. 28, 2009

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. - The Colonel men's basketball team extended its Southland Conference winning streak to three games, claiming a 56-45 victory over McNeese State Wednesday night at the Lake Charles Civic Center.

"I am so proud of these guys," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "I think we have an identity that's related to our defense that is going to give us a chance to win every night and that is so exciting."

Freshman Fred Hunter (Denton, Texas/Denton) paced the Colonels with 23 points, also grabbing a season-high five steals in the contest.

Hunter went 8-of-12 from the floor and sank 7-of-10 from the charity stripe for the Colonels.

Senior Ryan Bathie (Melton, Australia/Sydney) led Nicholls on the glass with five also reaching double figures in scoring with 12, while sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) and Hunter each grabbed four boards.

The Colonels (11-8, 4-2 SLC) dished out nine assists on the night, led by sophomore Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison) who handed out three on the night.

McNeese (7-11, 1-4 SLC) cut the Colonel lead to two, 35-33, with 12 minutes to play and held two points behind through much of the second half thanks to 15-of-19 (78.9%) free throw shooting by the Cowboys.

Entering the game as the best shooting team in the league and the No. 17 team in the nation in field-goal percentage, Nicholls went 20-of-43 (46.5%) in the game.

"We saw some spots offensively tonight where we didn't look like a very good offensive team," Piper noted, "but we were able to survive that because of the way our defense played for 40 minutes. I just couldn't be prouder of the effort of our guys and our defense."

The Colonels rattled the Cowboys early, led by Hunter, who single-handedly outscored McNeese State with 12-straight points in the opening 10 minutes of action to put Nicholls ahead 14-9.

Nicholls, who led by as many as 11 in the game, finished the first half with a nine-point advantage, 26-17. While Hunter led all scorers with 13, Bose and sophomore Dominic Friend (Geelong, Australia/St. Joseph's) each added five apiece. The Colonels forced 12 Cowboy turnovers through the opening half, grabbing four steals.

The Colonels held all Cowboys to single digits, allowing three McNeese players to reach a team-high seven points.

The win marks the Colonels' third straight over McNeese dating back to last season.

Nicholls will travel to Hammond on Saturday, taking on Southeastern Louisiana in a 3 p.m. tip at the University Center.

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