Final Stats Nicholls-McNeese Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. – With only three games left in the regular season, the Nicholls men's basketball team traveled to Lake Charles to take on the east division leaders in McNeese, and left with a big 78-75 road win Saturday afternoon.

The Colonels (10-17, 6-8 SLC) have now won double-digit games for the fifth consecutive season, the last time running from 1996-2001. Nicholls was led by Sam McBeath and Jeremy Smith who finished with 16 points each, while Trevon Lewis chipped in 15 and Bryan Hammond with 11 off of the bench.

Taking a slim 23-21 lead into the break, the Colonels were nearly unstoppable from the floor in the second period, shooting a blistering 73-percent from the floor, scoring 55 points in the second half alone.

Defense was the calling card of both teams in the first half, as the two combined to make 17 shots in the first 20 minutes, as the Colonels closed out the first half on a 6-0 run to take the 23-21 lead. There weren't many trips to the line in the period as the Colonels and Cowboys went to the line four times each.

The bulk of the 11 ties and 13 lead changes came in the second period, as the Colonels knotted the game up nine times in the second, with leads changing hands eight times as no team gave an inch for 15 of the final 20 minutes of the game.

With 6:17 left in the game and the score tied at 52, Lewis got the hoop and harm foul to put the Colonels up 55-52, but while the Colonels would score two more points from Smith free throws, Patrick Richard scored five of his game-high 28 points to tie the game at 57.

The Colonels then sparked a 5-0 run on a Hammond layup and McBeath 3-pointer in what was the beginning of the end for the Cowboys as Nicholls went on to use an 11-2 run from the 5:03 mark of the game to the 1:58 mark to take a nine point lead, the largest for any team in the game.

Nicholls maintained at least a five to eight point lead for the duration of the game, as the Cowboys began to foul the Colonels, sending them to the line a total of 19 times in the half, while McNeese began to fire up 3-pointers to try and make a comeback. In the final two minutes the Colonels were 8-of-10 from the line to help seal the road victory.

McBeath hit all four of his three pointers in the second half, and grabbed eight boards in the process to lead all rebounders. Smith was once again nearly flawless from the field, going 5-for-7 from the field, knocking down five of his eight free throw attempts.

As a team the Colonels were 17-for-23 at the line, with Lewis being a perfect 5-for-5 from the line on the night.

The Colonels will be back in action next Tuesday for their final road game of the year, facing the Northwestern State Demons in Natchitoches.