Feb. 28, 2009

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - McNeese State forced overtime on a three-pointer by Patrick Richard with three seconds remaining in regulation, but the Colonels outscored the Cowboys 14-10 in OT to claim an 80-76 win in Stopher Gym Saturday afternoon.

"Our fear coming into this game was that [McNeese] would be more committed to getting the ball inside than they were when we played them in Lake Charles," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "Coming into tonight we were very concerned because we had seen that they were giving [Kleon] Penn have a lot of opportunities."

Nicholls held a nine-point (62-53) advantage with just under four minutes to play in the second half before McNeese used a 13-4 run to close out the half and tie the game at 66-66.

Seniors Ryan Bathie (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) and Justin Payne (Opelousas, La./Opelousas) paced the Colonels with 19 points apiece, while sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) and freshman Chris Iles (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings) also reached double figures at 16 and 12, respectively.

Iles tied a career high, dishing out five assists as part of 23 for the Colonels as team. Bathie and sophomore Dominic Friend (Geelong, Australia/St. Joseph's) each handed out four and served as Nicholls' leaders on the glass with five rebounds each.

The Colonels stormed out to an early lead, pulling ahead by as many as 17 (26-9) at the seven minute mark of the first half. McNeese State took advantage at the free-throw line, sinking 4-of-5 to climb to an eight-point deficit and send the teams to the locker room with Nicholls on top 30-22.

"We want to get the ball to the rim," Piper noted, "and I told our guys at halftime that the only problem I saw with the first half was that we fell in love with the three-point shot. But when they're going to make 16 of them and shoot 53% from behind the arc, you have to let them shoot them."

Nicholls drained 7-of-11 from beyond the arc in the second half, and went a perfect 4-for-4 in overtime for 53.3% shooting from three-point land. The Colonels sank 16-of-30 in the game to McNeese's 6-of-15, thanks in part to a combined 9-of-16 from Bose and Payne.

"What was nice was that we got it from a lot of different guys - Chris Iles stepped up, Justin [Payne] doesn't normally make that many and Dominic Friend hit a huge one in overtime for us," added Piper. "It was a great all-around team effort."

In overtime, the Colonels found themselves down by three with just under a minute remaining, but back-to-back treys from Friend and Bose, capped off by a free throw from Iles, put Nicholls up by four as the seconds ticked off the clock.

"There were a few times where we missed some shots and they'd take advantage on the other end and gain some confidence and get back in the game," Piper said. "That gave them life in the second half. We still had a chance to put them away at the free-throw line and didn't capitalize. I thought the first team that missed in OT was going to be the team that lost, but we had some big plays when it mattered and came out on top."

The Colonels will play the final home game of the 2008-09 season Wednesday night, hosting Texas Arlington for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.

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