Final Stats Lamar-Nicholls Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. – Powered by 21 points from Dantrell Thomas, the Nicholls men's basketball team held the high scoring Lamar Cardinals to just 25 first half points, en route to a 72-63 win Saturday afternoon in Stopher Gym.

The Colonels (8-16, 4-8 SLC) have won their last three games at home and are winners of four of their last seven.

Thomas led all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting in the game, and made all seven of his attempts at the free throw line. Trevon Lewis chipped in 17 as a reserve with three blocks, as the Colonel bench outscored Lamar's 26-4.

If there was any doubt about the Colonels ability to shut down the Lamar (16-9, 7-4) offense, those fears were put to rest in the first 12 minutes of the game as Nicholls held the Cards to just one made shot from the field to go on a blistering 24-6 run to take a commanding lead early.

Although the Colonels led from the 16 minute mark and on, the Cards woke up in the second half and with 8:58 remaining in the game were within three points of Nicholls heading toward the most crucial stretch of the game for both teams.

But the Colonels' stayed composed and embarked on an 11-1 run over the next three-plus minutes to regain a 13-point lead with over five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the contest. That run came at the hands of two Nicholls players, as Lewis scored five of those points, while McBeath scored six of his final eight points on the day during that run.

Desperate, the Cards began floating up 3-pointers and pressing the Colonels on inbound plays, but the Colonels scored eight points on fast break opportunities as the Cards would only come as close as seven points for the rest of the game.

The Colonels went into the half leading 35-25 after shooting 61-percent from the field draining 13 shots to Lamar's six. Thomas had a perfect half making all four of his shots from the field, including two 3-pointers, and all three of his free throw attempts for 13 first-half points. For Lamar, they couldn't get anything to fall in the period, going just 6-for-26 from the field and 1-of-4 behind the 3-point line, as nearly half of their points came from the free throw line.

By the end of the game, the Colonels finished with a 55-percent clip from the field and 80-percent day from the free throw line, as opposed to the Cardinals' 19-for-62 afternoon and 4-for-20 from three.
Nicholls lived in the paint, scoring 42 points in the lane and got 21 points off of 14 Lamar turnovers. The Colonels also scored 10 fast break points, while Lamar grabbed 40 rebounds, 21 on the offensive side, outscoring the Colonels in second chance points 15-5.

It was a total team effort, as all but one Nicholls player who saw minutes scored no less than four points on the day with 11 assists as a team.

The Colonels will be back in action in one week, hosting the IUPUI Jaguars at 3:30 p.m. in the Sears BracketBuster weekend next Saturday.