Final Stats NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Down by just six at halftime, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team had the Vanderbilt Commodores on the ropes until the second half when Vandy hit eight 3-pointers to pull away from the Colonels to win 80-65 in the season opener for both teams.

With the loss the Colonels fall to 0-1 on the season while Vanderbilt improves to 1-0.

Nicholls was led by redshirt senior Fred Hunter, who after sitting out all of last year to rehab scored 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting and grabbed ten rebounds to earn a double-double. Nicholls had three players score in double figures as Sam McBeath scored 15 points and T.J. Carpenter scored 11 in his debut in a Colonel uniform.

Vanderbilt was led by its guard play, as Kendren Johnson led all players with 25 points. Kyle Fuller and Kevin Bright each chipped in 15 to combine for 55 of Vanderbilt's 80 points.

In the first half the Colonels led by four with over eight minutes left in the contest. Nicholls held the Commodores to 33-percent shooting in the first half while the Colonels hit nine shots to shoot 31-percent from the field.

The Commodores went on a 6-0 run to end the half to lead 28-22, retaining the lead for the rest of the game, going up by as many as 20 in the second half. After only hitting four 3-pointers in the first half, Vanderbilt made eight in the second to finish going 12-for-26 from behind the arc for a 46-percent clip.

Nicholls was only outrebounded by five, 35-30 in the game, while scoring ten points off of ten Vandy turnovers and got 28 points in the paint. Vanderbilt got to the line more frequently than the Colonels, going 12-for-18 from the charity stripe while the Colonels were 8-11.

Nicholls will be back in action on Tuesday night, hosting the Mobile Rams in an exhibition in Stopher Gym at 6:30 p.m.