Colonels Stretch Home Win Streak to Seven with Win Over Defending Southland Champs

Jan. 16, 2010

THIBODAUX - Three Colonels reached double-digit scoring figures and the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (6-10, 2-1 Southland Conference) shot 51.4 percent from the floor (a season-best against D1 competition) as the Colonels extended their home court winning streak to seven games with a 70-63 win over Stephen F. Austin (11-5, 1-2 Southland) in Stopher Gym on Saturday afternoon.

The Colonels were led once again by junior guard/forward Anatoly Bose. The Sydney, Australia native saw his streak of seven consecutive 20-point games snapped, but still led all scorers with 19 points on 4-for-6 shooting while going 10-for-10 from the free throw line.

However, a pair of early first half fouls would send Bose to the bench early in the first with zero points in the opening frame, giving the Colonel bench a chance to share the load.

Nicholls saw 14 points from their reserves. Meanwhile, sophomore guard/forward Fred Hunter added 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting and sophomore point guard Chris Iles added 11 to the Colonel cause to give Nicholls three double digit scorers on the day.

The Colonels opened strong with a 6-0 run, but the defending Southland regular season and tournament champions battled back in with a 9-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the day at 9-6 with 13:40 left.

After Nicholls tied things up on a three by Iles, both squads defenses stepped up as the two squads entered a 4:30 scoring drought.

The Colonels finally broke through on a three from freshman guard Justin Ayers to make it 12-9 at the 9:57 mark and start a 15-6 run that put Nicholls up 21-15 with 3:41 left in the opening frame.

SFA battled back, cutting the Colonel lead to three after a Jordan Glynn free throw made it 23-20 with 1:31 left in the first. However, Nicholls saw a three-pointer from junior forward Dominic Friend and a layup in the paint from junior forward Maurice Foster to close out the first half with a 28-20 lead.

Bose returned to action at the start of the second, putting the Colonels up by ten as his first points of the game (a layup in the paint) made it 30-20. However, the Lumberjacks responded with a 10-0 run to tie things up at 30-30 with 16:42 remaining.

Fortunately, for the Colonels, they regained their stride by grinding out a methodical 18-8 run that lasted just over seven minutes. Another three by Ayers put Nicholls up 48-38 with 7:36 remaining.

The Colonels continued to pull away, leading by as many as 15 after Hunter completed a three-point play to make it 55-40 with 5:00 left on the clock, but SFA refused to go quietly. The Lumberjacks rallied to within eight twice down the stretch, but the Colonels took advantage of the charity stripe, attempting 31 shots from the line (and connecting on 24) in the second half, after going just 2-for-3 from the free throw line in the first.

Meanwhile, the Nicholls defense continued to frustrate the SFA offense, generating eight steals and forcing 17 Lumberjack turnovers on the afternoon.

With the win, the Colonels have now won seven straight home contests dating back to Feb. 7, 2009.

The Colonels will now hit the road to take on Central Arkansas (Jan. 20) and Northwestern State (Jan. 23) for a two-game conference road swing.

Nicholls will be looking for their first road win of the Southland season when they face off against UCA on Wednesday night.

The Colonels will try for their seventh straight home victory when they return to Stopher Gym to host McNeese State on Jan. 27.