THIBODAUX - The 2010-11 Nicholls State University men's basketball team (5-4) will look to become just the second team in the last 16 years to open the season with a record above .500 when the Colonels play host to Jarvis Christian in the home finale of the non-conference schedule and the final game of the 2010 calendar year on Tuesday night.

A win over the Bulldogs, an NAIA program from the Red River Conference based out of Hawkins, Texas, would mark just the second time since the 1994-95 season that the Colonels have opened the first ten games of the season with a record over .500.

The 1994-95 Colonels opened the year with an 8-2 mark that included wins over in-state rivals Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana and a 4-0 start to Southland Conference action.  That Nicholls program went on to rack up a 24-6 record, including a 17-1 mark in Southland play, conference regular season and tournament championships, and the program's first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a Division I school.

Since then, the 2000-01, 2003-04 and 2004-05 all opened with a 5-5 mark.  The 2008-09 Colonels, who opened the season 6-4, were the first team since 1994-95 to open the year above .500 after ten games.

Nicholls will look to duplicate that feat on Tuesday against Jarvis Christian.  However, the Bulldogs have already proven themselves to be a dangerous team.  Jarvis Christian owns a 5-7 record, and put a scare into the Colonels' Southland Conference rival McNeese State when the Bulldogs battled McNeese down to the wire in a 96-91 loss on Dec. 9.

The Bulldogs boast four players averaging double-digit scoring.  Jarvis is led by Rashad Norman's 12.6 point/game average.  Meanwhile, Sage Malone (10.7 ppg), Anthony Crump (10.6) and Brian Lockett (10.0) all add double-digit scoring potential and Maurese Jackson (9.6 ppg) isn't far off.

Fortunately, for Nicholls, the Colonels answer with one of the most dominant scorers in the country.  Senior forward Anatoly Bose heads into Tuesday's contest averaging 25.0 points per night.  The Sydney, Australia native enters the game ranked third in the nation in scoring average, trailing only UCONN's Kemba Walker and Northern Illinois' Xavier Silas, currentley tied for the national lead with 28.1 point/game averages.

Also helping out the Colonel cause is junior guard/forward Fred Hunter.  The Denton, Texas native boasts a 14.7 point.game average and a .554 shooting average from the field that ranked 43rd in the nation last week.

The Nicholls offense is run by senior point guard Kenny Franklin Jr.  The Shreveport, La. native was 15th in the nation with a 3.4 assist/turnover ratio last week and ranked in the top 60 in the nation, averaging 4.9 assists/game.

Tipoff between the Colonels and Bulldogs is set for 6:30 p.m. at Stopher Gym.  The game can be heard in the New Orleans-Houma-Thibodaux area on the Colonel Sports Radio Network, including the flagship station KLRZ 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM.  A live streaming video webcast will be made available at www.thibodauxonline.com.

Following the Colonels' match up with Jarvis Christian, Nicholls will not return to action until Jan. 3 when the Colonels head to Texas A&M for the finale of the non-conference season on Jan. 3.