Final Stats NEW ORLEANS, La. – Trailing for most of the game, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team fell behind by as many as 11 points with less than ten minutes remaining in the game against UNO Wednesday night, but after a 20-9 run allowed the Colonels to get back into the game late, Nicholls couldn't convert key free throws in the end and the Privateers escaped with a 79-76 win at the Lakefront Arena.

With the loss the Colonels fall to 1-5 on the season and 0-5 in road games while New Orleans improves to 3-5 overall. The loss to UNO snaps the Colonels' three game winning streak against the Privateers and falls to 1-8 in games in New Orleans all-time.

After sitting out the past two games, senior guard Fred Hunter made his return to the starting lineup and dominated scoring a career-high 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting with nine rebounds in 38 minutes of action. The 13 made shots were also a career best for Hunter, as the Denton, Texas native broke the 30-point barrier for the first time in his career.

UNO's largest lead came with 8:33 left in the second, going up 11 with the score 66-55 in favor of the Privateers. But the tide turned when Nicholls scored eight consecutive points corner stoned by back-to-back 3-pointers by T.J Carpenter to pull the Colonels to within five with seven minutes remaining. Carpenter was 5-of-6 from the field, 4-for-4 behind the arc and finished with 14 points for Nicholls.

A 20-9 run that began with that eight-point swing spanned 6:26 allowed the Colonels to claw back and tie the game twice, once at 73 and again at 75.

The game was decided by free throws as the Colonels had two opportunities to go to the line with a chance to tie, as a runner by UNO put the Privateers up 77-75 but Hunter on a foul would only make one of two attempts. After New Orleans went to the line and made one of two to keep the lead at two points, Shane Rillieux was fouled and missed the first and the second as UNO got the rebound and the foul to head back to the line to ice the game.

However, UNO left the door open making only one to make the score 79-76 with seven seconds and counting. With the ball and driving, Nicholls turned it over for the 25th and final time of the night sealing the Privateer victory. UNO on the night turned Colonel turnovers into 29 points, while Nicholls was able to garner 20 points on 19 Privateer miscues.

After a tough first half that had the Colonels turn the ball over 13 times, Nicholls went on outscored the Privateers 6-3 over the last minute to cut an eight-point deficit to just five trailing UNO 41-36.

Nicholls held a slim 6-5 lead early in the half, but New Orleans went on a 10-2 run to jump out to a 15-8 lead, keeping some space between them and the Colonels with runs of 7-2 and 9-3 coming during different spots of the first. The Privateers scored 15 points off of 13 Nicholls turnovers during the half, shooting 62 percent from the floor with five 3-pointers.

UNO made 15 shots in each period, finishing the game shooting 55 percent for the night, while the Colonels made 14 shots in each and ended the game shooting at a 59 percent clip. The Privateers best stat came from behind the 3-point line, shooting 58 percent from behind the arc, with an abysmal 41 percent night at the line making just 12 of their 29 attempts. Nicholls was 16-of-26 and shot 61 percent from the charity stripe.

The Colonels outrebounded New Orleans 32-25 on the night, scoring 42 points in the paint while the home side grabbed 11 offensive boards and held a 17-15 edge in second-chance points.

Nicholls will now have a week to prepare for the three-day World Vision Challenge hosted by Utah State. The Colonels will take on the host Aggies, Southern Illinois and UC Davis Dec. 20-22.