Final Stats Box Score and Play-by-Play

HOUMA, La. -  Senior forward Anatoly Bose's streak of eight consecutive 20-point games, dating back to last season, came to an end on Wednesday night.  But the Sydney, Australia native still added 15 points, two other Colonels scored in double digits and a swarming Nicholls defense forced 28 turnovers as the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (4-2) cruised to a 75-41 win over NAIA power Loyola - New Orleans at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center on Wednesday night.

The Colonels were led by true freshman guard Dantrell Thomas who narrowly missed a double-double in his first career start.  Thomas, who was making the start in place of an injured Kellan Carter turned in the most complete effort of the night.  The Many, La. native totaled nine points on 3-for-3 shooting to go along with nine assists, two steals and a block.

In addition to Bose and Thomas, junior guard/forward Fred Hunter led all scorers on the night, totaling 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting.  Redshirt junior guard Ben Martin turned in a career-high ten points with a pair of threes, and true freshman forward Chris Talkington got in on the action by connecting on three of four three point attempts for a career high nine points.

It marked the third consecutive contest that the Colonels shot 50 percent or better from the floor and the third straight game three Colonels found double digits in the scoring column.

The Wolfpack made things tough on the Colonels early on in the first half, battling Nicholls through four tie scores and four lead changes.  However, after Loyola went up 16-15 with 7:11 remaining in the opening frame, the Nicholls offense caught fire.  The Colonels closed the first half with a 14-0 run over the final 7:11 to take a 29-16 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.

After shooting just 10-for-26 from the field in the first half (38.6 percent), the Nicholls offense continued to pull away in the second half by connecting on 17-of-28 field goal attempts for a 60.7 shooting percentage in the second.

The Colonels, who were playing an off-campus home game for the first time since the 2007-08 season, limited the Wolfpack to 33.3 percent shooting as a team.  Nicholls forced 28 turnovers and tallied 16 steals, giving the Colonels double digit steals in four of their first six games and 20 or more turnovers forced in three of their first six games.

With both the offense and defense clicking in the second half, the Colonels increased their lead to 34 points as an Elridge Moore layup with 1:27 left proved to be the final score of the ballgame, providing the 75-41 margin.

In all, eight Colonels saw the floor, with all eight putting their names in the scoring column.  Six different Colonels recorded eight or more points on the night.

Nicholls will return to action on Friday when the Colonels head to Wichita State to take on the Shockers in a match up of preseason conference favorites.  Nicholls was selected to win the Southland Conference East Division in the 2010-11 Southland Conference Preseason Coach's Poll, and WSU was a near unanimous choice to be the Missouri Valley Conference champion.  Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. in Wichita, Kan.