March 13, 2009

Box Score

KATY, Texas - Senior Ryan Bathie (Melton, Australia/Mowbray) hit a three at the buzzer, but the effort wasn't enough as the second-seeded Colonels fell 57-55 to No. 6 UTSA in semi-final action at the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament.

Bathie led the Colonels (20-11, 12-4 SLC) with 18 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. The 6-6 forward recorded two steals and went 4-for-6 from three-point land.

Sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) poured in 17 for Nicholls, turning in a 7-for-14 performance from the floor.

Nicholls shot just 7-for-12 (58.3%) from the line, while the Roadrunners drained 90.0% (10-of-11).

Sophomore Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison) finished with six rebounds, adding three assists and recorded three of Nicholls' nine steals on the night. Senior Justin Payne tallied six points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"I'm obviously very disappointed," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "I felt like we had the game right where we wanted it. It was our type of game. [UTSA] came up with a couple of big plays in the last minute of the game that we weren't able to rebound from."

UTSA scored seven-straight to take a 51-45 lead with under a minute to go. The Colonels pulled within two (51-49) as Bose drove the middle of the lane to lay one in, but Omar Johnson sank two from the line on UTSA's next possession to put the Roadrunners on top 53-49 with 21 seconds remaining.

Bose drained a pair of free throws to close the gap to two (53-51) with 12 seconds left on the clock and the Colonels were forced to foul. Joey Shank sank both of his free throws for UTSA, but Payne could only convert one one to make it a 55-52 ball game in favor of the Roadrunners.

"We missed a couple of free-throw opportunites and missed a layup," stated Piper. "Our guys were trying to win the game and trying to make a play, but if you put us in that same situation again tomorrow night, I'd have the exact same guys in there doing the exact same thing."

Back-to-back threes from UTSA's Shank evened the score at 30 midway through the second half. The squads traded buckets over the next few minutes and Nicholls held close thanks to three-pointers of their own from Bathie and freshman Chris Iles (Houston, Texas/Alief Hastings).

Defense helped the Colonels through the opening 20 minutes. Bathie, who led Nicholls with eight points in the first half, grabbed two steals and had three blocks, while Carter recorded one of each, handed out a team-leading three assists and pulled down five rebounds.

After opening the game with a 5-0 lead, Nicholls hit a drought, going nearly six minutes without a bucket. UTSA took advantage, using an 11-0 run to pull ahead by seven (11-5) in the early goings.

With just under three minutes to play in the opening half, the Colonels caught up as Bose drained a three from the top of the key and give Nicholls a 20-19 lead.

From there, Nicholls ran out the half, scoring four unanswered points in the final 2:41 to take a 24-19 lead to the locker room at the half.

"I don't think what happened tonight should diminish what we've accomplished this year," Piper noted. "I'm very proud of my guys and the way they represented Nicholls tonight. We're only going to get better. I think the program is in great shape and the future is very bright for the Colonels."

The Colonels will await the announcement of postseason tournament berths this weekend.

######