THIBODAUX - After their first home court loss in nearly a year, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (9-8, 3-3 Southland Conference) will try to get back on track when the Colonels welcome the Lamar Cardinals (9-10, 3-2 Southland Conference) to Stopher Gym for a matchup scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.

The Colonels' 11-game home-court winning streak came to an end on Wednesday in a heartbreaking last-second one-point loss to the McNeese State Cowboys.  It was Nicholls' first loss in Stopher Gym since Feb. 10, 2010.  The Colonels will try to rebound with a win over the Cardinals that would help the Colonels keep up in a crowded Southland Conference race.  Heading into Saturday, the top eight teams are separated by just 1.0 game.  The top 11 teams are separated by just 2.0 games.

Saturday's matchup will pit the highest scoring offenses in the league against one of the conference's top defenses.  The Cardinals head into Saturday's matchup leading the Southland in scoring offense, putting up an average of 87.2 points/game.  The Cardinals also lead the Southland in both offensive and defensive rebounding average and are averaging a Southland Conference-best 8.3 three pointers per night.

Meanwhile, the Colonels have limited opponents to 60.1 points/game, giving Nicholls the second best scoring defense in the conference behind national leader Stephen F. Austin.  Nationally, the Colonels rank 18th in scoring defense, fifth in turnover margin (+5.6) and 22nd in steals/game (8.8).

The Cardinals are led by a quartet of double digit scorers: Mike James (14.0 points/game), Kendrick Harris (11.7 points/game), Anthony Miles (10.6) and Brandon Davis (10.2). 

Nicholls, meanwhile, counters with one of the top scoring tandems in division one.  The Colonels are led by senior forward Anatoly Bose, the nation's eighth leading scorer with a 22.6 point/game average.  Joining him is junior guard/forward Fred Hunter who is averaging 15.0 points per night, is ranked 32nd nationally with a .557 shooting percentage, and needs just two more points to reach the 1,000 career point mark.

Tipoff between the Colonels and Cardinals is set for 3:30 p.m. in Stopher Gym.  The game can be heard in the New Orleans-Houma-Thibodaux area on the Colonel Sports Radio Network, including KLRZ 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM.  Advance tickets are available at ticketmaster.com or by calling the Nicholls Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 448-4792.