Final Stats Box Score and Play-by-Play

STILLWATER, Okla. - Senior forward Anatoly Bose lit up the Cowboys for 37 points, 27 of which came in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome national power Oklahoma State as the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (1-2) fell to the Cowboys (3-0) at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday.

With the win, the Cowboys extend their home-court winning streak to 27 games.  Oklahoma State has gone 164-3 on their home floor in their last 167 contests in Stillwater.

After a pair of wins that were lackluster by Oklahoma State standards to open the season, the Cowboys entered Sunday's contest claiming they were taking Nicholls very seriously as Nicholls entered the contest fresh off of snapping LSU's 82-game home court win streak against Louisiana schools on Tuesday night.

A highly motivated Cowboy squad got off to a fast start on Sunday afternoon as Oklahoma State shot 65.0 percent from the field (13-for-20) in the opening half.  Meanwhile, after junior guard/forward Fred Hunter picked up two fouls in the first three minutes, Nicholls was forced to play the first half without half of it's respected scoring duo.

The Cowboys led by as many as 18 in the opening frame, but the Colonels closed the half out strong with a 9-2 run over the final two minutes to bring the halftime deficit down to 33-22.

The Cowboy offense continued to click in the second half as Oklahoma State saw three scorers finish in double figures.  OSU played 12 different players with all but one putting their name in the scoring column.

Meanwhile, after recording ten points in the first half, Bose single-handedly tried to bring the Colonels back into the game.  The Sydney, Australia native poured in 27 second half points en route to a 37-point day.  Bose finished the game three points shy of his personal best for a non-overtime game and recorded his sixth consecutive game with 20 or more points, dating back to last season.  He now owns 32 career 20-point games, four career 30-point games, and finished just three points shy of his third career 40-point game. 

The Colonels' go-to scorer entered into the game needing 18 points to become just the ninth Colonel ever with 1500 career points.  Bose's career point total now stands at 1519, ten points shy of Richard Polk for eighth on the Colonels' all-time list.  He is now one of just eight players in Nicholls history to record 1500 points and 500 rebounds.

Unfortunately, for Nicholls, the Cowboy defense kept the rest of the Colonels in check.  Nicholls was limited to 31.1 percent shooting on the day while the OSU attack kept clicking.  Despite a swarming Nicholls defense that forced more turnovers than the opposition for the third consecutive game (15 for OSU, 10 for Nicholls) the Cowboys finished the day with a 63.3 team shooting percentage to stay out in front of Bose and the Colonels the rest of the way for the 76-56 win.

Saturday's contest concludes a three-game season-opening road trip for the Colonels.  Nicholls will return to Thibodaux to open the home portion of the 2010-11 schedule this Friday when the Colonels play host to Tulane for the first time in 19 seasons.  Tipoff, originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Stopher Gym has been moved up to 4 p.m. to accomodate area fans who wish to attend the Louisiana High School Class 3A football semifinals at E.D. White High School in Thibodaux later that night.

Links to live stats and live streaming audio will be made available at www.geauxcolonels.com, and the game can be heard in the New Orleans-Houma-Thibodaux area on KLRZ 100.3 FM based out of LaRose, La.