Final Stats

THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team opened its exhibition with the University of Mobile going on an 8-0 run and finished the game clamping down on defense to hold the Rams to just 20 points in the second half to win 73-53 Monday night in Thibodaux.

After shooting 46-percent in the first half, the Colonels picked up the defensive intensity in the second half, holding the Rams to just six made shots on 23-percent shooting from the floor. It was the opposite for the Colonels, as the home team got stronger hitting 53-percent of their shots in the first and 60-percent in the second.

Fred Hunter was one of three Nicholls players to finish in double figures on the night, leading all players with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds. T.J. Carpenter was 3-of-6 from behind the 3-point line on the night and finished with 17 points, while Shane Rillieux scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half.

Kwame Brown led Mobile with 18 points, while Julien Sargent had 12 in 29 minutes of action.

With Nicholls up 26-21 in the first half, the Rams used a 5-0 run over the course of 15 seconds to tie the game for the first and only time for the rest of the contest. The Colonels then went on a 17-7 run over the next 7:46 to take a ten point lead into halftime at 43-33.

Holding a slim 48-43 lead with over 13 minutes left in the game, a Rillieux jumper began a 9-0 Nicholls run that spanned four minutes to give Nicholls a 14-point lead with less than half of the game remaining.

After a nearly dead-even four minutes from the 7:13 mark of the second half, Nicholls closed out the game holding the Rams scoreless in the last 2:40 of the game, going on a 7-0 run to finish with the 73-53 final score.

The Colonels lived in the paint outscoring Mobile 46-26 on the night, and got 28 points off of 21 Ram turnovers. Nicholls held Mobile to no fast break points while getting eight, and having its bench outscore the visitors 12-10 on the night.

Although Mobile went to the line five more times than the Colonels, Nicholls shot 76-percent from the line going 10-for-13 while Mobile went 13-for-19.

Nicholls will be back in action on Friday, taking on No. 14/15 Missouri at 7 p.m. in Columbia. The Game will be available on the Mizzou Sports Network and ESPN3.