Feb. 21, 2009

SAN MARCOS, Texas - Texas State rallied late to force overtime and an eventual 71-66 win over the Nicholls men's basketball team Saturday afternoon in Southland Conference action.

With the loss, the Colonels drop to 15-10 (8-4 SLC), while the Bobcats improve to 12-13 (5-7 SLC).

"Hopefully this loss is good for us," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "The guys need to wallow in this and let it sting and hurt. We had it right where we wanted it and let it slip out of your hands. The challenge in the locker room after the game was to either learn from this and profit from it and get stronger down the stretch or this could be the beginning of the end."

Senior Ryan Bathie (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) and sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) led the Colonels with 21 points apiece, pulling down seven and six rebounds, respectively.

Bathie also paced Nicholls with four assists and was second on the squad with three steals in the loss.

Sophomore Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison) also reached double figures in scoring, pouring in 10 points and grabbing a game-high five steals.

Down by three in the final seconds of the opening half, Bathie and Bose hit back-to-back layups for a one-point (24-23) halftime lead. The Colonels built on that, opening the second period with six-straight unanswered points.

Senior Justin Payne (Opelousas, La./Opelousas) nailed a pair of free throws with 26 seconds remaining in regulation to give Nicholls a 60-57 advantage, but Texas State's Brent Benson drained a trey on the other end to tie it up and send the game into overtime.

"I felt like with about two minutes to go in the game, we didn't finish," Piper noted. "I'm surprised by that. That's not the way we've played all year, but it was like we relaxed defensively. We scrambled and defended their penetration, and then we stopped playing and watched a guy shoot two uncontested threes. We didn't come out for overtime. We were flat."

Despite shooting 60.0% (12-for-20) in the second half, the Colonels managed just two buckets in the overtime period (2-for-8 for 25.0%), getting a pair of three-pointers from Bathie and Bose.

"This team will determine what happens through the next four games," added Piper. "But knowing these young men, they'll respond in the right way and try to improve from this."

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