Colonels Rally, but Fall to Lobos at World Vision Classic

Nov. 21, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Junior guard/forward Anatoly Bose posted his second 20-point game of the season for the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (0-3), finishing three points shy of his career high. However, the University of New Mexico Lobos (3-0) saw four players reach double digits outlasted the Colonels 83-59 on Friday night at the Basketball Travelers World Vision Classic hosted by UNM.

The two teams battled back and forth early on, as the contest saw four lead changes in the first five and a half minutes. However, the defending co-regular season Mountain West Conference champions soon put together a 12-0 run to take a 21-11 with just over 9:30 left in the first half.

Once again, Bose led the Colonels by totaling 12 of his team-leading 20 points in the first half on 3-for-7 shooting (42.9 percent), sophomore guard Chris Iles also provided some first-half highlights by going 2-for-3 from three-point range for six points and the Colonels, as a whole, shot 30.8 percent (4-for-13) from beyond the arc.

Nicholls closed the first half strong, going on a 9-4 run over the final 2:45, but it wasn't enough to keep pace with the Lobos as New Mexico shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from the field in the first half to take a 37-25 lead into the lockerroom.

The opening part of the second period proved to be a back-and-forth affair, as the Colonels hung tough with the Lobos. In the first ten minutes of the second half, Nicholls saw six points each from Bose and junior guard Kenny Franklin Jr. (who finished with ten points on 4-for-8 shooting as the Colonels only other double-digit scorer) and five more from Phillip Ward. However, New Mexico still outscored the Colonels 29-16 over the first ten minutes of the half to expand its lead to 66-41 with ten minutes left.

From there, the Colonels continued to battle, outscoring New Mexico 18-17 the rest of the way. However, it was too little, too late to catch up to the homestanding Lobos, as Nicholls fell 83-59.

The Lobos shot 43.6 percent from the field on the night, giving the Colonels their best opponent shooting percentage on the young season.

The Colonels will return to action when they take on Miami (Ohio) on Saturday in their second of three games at the World Vision Classic. The Redhawks, like the Colonels, will be looking for their first win of the season after falling to Louisiana Tech on Friday night by a score of 74-62. Miami opened the season by falling to Towson (82-71 on Nov. 13) before taking No. 5 Kentucky down to the wire for a 72-70 loss on Nov. 16.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. central time at The Pit. Nicholls will conclude its' time in Albuquerque with a 3:00 p.m. central time tipoff against in-state rival Louisiana Tech on Sunday.

NOTES

With four three pointers, Bose increased his career total to 126. The Sydney, Australia native remains 74 three-pointers shy of 200 for his career. Bose's countryman, and former teammate, Ryan Bathie still owns the school record of 304 set from 2005-2009.

Friday night's contest was the first game above 5,000 feet in elevation since Nicholls visited the Cowboy Shootout at the University of Wyoming (approx. elevation: 7,100 feet). The Colonels' home of Thibodaux, La. is 13 feet above sea level.

The Colonels' match up with the Lobos was Nicholls' first against a current member of the Mountain West Conference since a 64-42 loss at UNLV on Dec. 29, 2007. All-time, the Colonels are just 1-7 against current MWC members. Nicholls lone win was a 75-74 nail-biter against Air Force on Dec. 2, 1991 in Thibodaux.

Friday night continued a stretch of eight consecutive games away from home to open the season for the Colonels. The tilt with the Lobos was the third in that series. Nicholls will stay on the road through next week when the Colonels head to Anchorage, Alaska for the 2009 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.

Nicholls will play ten contests away from home during the non-conference season. From Nov. 13 through Dec. 21, the Colonels will log 11,060 miles of round trip travel by air and ground, enough to circumnavigate the globe at the equator 1.4 times.