Jan. 30, 2010

Final Stats

THIBODAUX - Sophomore guard/forward Fred Hunter tied his career high with 27 points, and junior guard/forward Anatoly Bose added 24. However, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (7-13, 4-3 Southland Conference) saw just three other Colonels put their name in the scoring column. Meanwhile, the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions (12-8, 4-3 Southland) saw four double-digit scorers and shot 64.6 percent from the floor as a team to snap the Colonels home court winning streak at eight games by a final of 84-65 on Saturday at Stopher Gym.

Nicholls was neck-and-neck with the Lions in a heated first half that saw seven tie scores and four lead changes. The Colonels shot 50 percent (15-for-30) in the first half and hit on eight of 15 three point attempts (57.1 percent) in the opening frame. However, Southeastern was 16-for-23 from the field (69.6 percent) to outpace the Colonels in the first. Junior guard Kellan Carter's desperation three at the buzzer hit the front iron, and the Colonels went into the half trailing 42-40.

The second half was a different story as the Lions stayed hot on offense. Southeastern's 6-9 center Patrick Sullivan scored 27 points and added a game-high 12 rebounds, meanwhile guard Trent Hutchin hit seven of nine threes en route to matching Sullivan's 27 points. Rodney Jones added 11 points and Robert Tibbs added ten as the Lion bench outscored the Nicholls reserves 17-6.

The loss was the Colonels first at home since Feb. 7, 2009, halting Nicholls home-court winning streak at eight games.

Nicholls will try to get back on track when the Colonels head to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on defending regular season and conference tournament champion Stephen F. Austin. After beating the Lumberjacks in the first meeting between the two schools back on Jan. 16, the Colonels will try for their first conference road win, and a season sweep of SFA on Feb. 3.