March 7, 2009

Box Score

BEAUMONT, Texas - Nicholls scored eight unanswered points through three minutes near the end of the game to pull ahead by as many as 16, running to an eventual 50-36 win at Lamar in the final game of the regular season Saturday night at the Montagne Center.

With the win, the Colonels improve to 19-10 (12-4 SLC) heading into next week's Southland Conference Tournament, while Lamar, who is eliminated from the tournament finishes the seaason at 15-15 (6-10 SLC).

"This game really took a lot out of our guys," said Head Coach J.P. Piper. "I wasn't sure if our guys had enough energy left in them to finish this game. It was really an intense game and we played at a high level of energy through the second half. It was just a hard-fought game and I'm glad our guys were able to come through with the win."

Sophomore Anatoly Bose (Sydney, Australia/Waverley) led all scorers with 14, adding nine rebounds, eight of which came on the defensive end.

Also in double figures was freshman Fred Hunter (Denton, Texas/Denton) with 11. Hunter added three steals and seven rebounds to his ledger.

Sophomore Kellan Carter (Fresno, Calif./Edison) scored eight for Nicholls, grabbing a season-high seven rebounds. Carter added three steals and an assist to his line. The Colonels pulled down 39 off the glass as a team.

"We have been telling Kellan for a couple of weeks now that we're going to find a game where we need him to step up and this was that game," Piper noted. "He was ready for that challenge."

Bose poured in two-straight from three-point land, putting the Colonels up by eight, 40-32, and Bathie bounced one in off the backboard to extend the lead to ten (42-32).

Nicholls pulled ahead by 13 with just under two minutes remaining as Bose drained another from beyond the arc.

Neither team shot well in the first half, as Lamar made 23.1% (6-for-26) from the floor and Nicholls sank just 21.7% (5-for-23) as the teams went to the lockerroom with the score tied at 14-all.

It took nearly eight minutes, but the Colonels finally got on the board at the 12:01 mark as Hunter laid one off the glass, drawing the fould for an old-fashioned three-point play, cutting the Cardinal lead in half 6-3.

The Colonels took the lead for the first time with 5:25 to go in the opening half on a layup by freshman Cameron McCallum (Melton, AUstralia/Mowbray), pulling ahead 12-11.

Nicholls led Lamar on the glass, pulling down 21 first-half rebounds, including five from Carter, to the Cardinals' 18.

Hunter led the Colonels in scoring through the first half with five points, knocking down 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

The Colonels will travel to Katy, Texas next week for the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament. Seedings and pairings will be announced Sunday afternoon. Visit www.GeauxColonels.com for updated SLC Tournament information throughout the week.

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