THIBODAUX, La. – At the end of January, the Nicholls men's basketball team was 5-15 overall and just 1-7 at the end of the first round of conference action. Since that time, the Colonels have won five of their last six Southland games, and five of their last seven overall, to find themselves just one win away from their fourth consecutive berth in the Southland Conference tournament next week in Katy, Texas. The Colonels will need another strong effort like the one they had last Saturday in an improbable win over the east division leading Cowboys in Lake Charles, as they take on the Northwestern State Demons Wednesday night in the Southland Conference Television Network Toyota Game of the Week in Natchitoches. Lyn Rollins will handle play-by-play duties, while former Baylor coach Jim Haller will provide color commentary.
 
Where We Stand With One Week Remaining
With its win over McNeese Saturday, coupled with a loss by Sam Houston State, the Nicholls basketball team is tied with the Bearkats with identical 6-8 conference records. By virtue of Sam Houston's head-to-head win over the Colonels back in January, the Bearkats hold the tiebreaker advantage should a tie occur and right now that would put the Bearkats in the seventh seed and the Colonels eighth. Texas State's win over UTSA Saturday puts the Bobcats at 5-9 on the outside looking in, but one back of getting into the conversation. Since the Colonels defeated the Bobcats in Thibodaux in February, the Colonels own the tiebreaker with Texas State should a tie occur there as well. For the Colonels to ensure a spot in the tournament, a win on Wednesday with a Texas State loss would mean that the Colonels would finish with a better conference record no matter what would happen in the season finale on Saturday. Essentially, the only way for Texas State to leapfrog the Colonels would be for the Colonels to lose both and Bobcats sweep their games. On the opposite side, if the Bobcats lose both or split, the Colonels would advance to the postseason.
 
 Nicholls makes the tournament with
·         A win over Northwestern State Wednesday and/or
·         Texas State loss Wednesday or
·         A Nicholls split with a win against either Northwestern State or Southeastern
·         A Texas State split against Lamar and Sam Houston
·         Bobcat losses to Lamar and Sam Houston

Texas State makes the tournament with
·         Two Nicholls losses with sweep of Lamar and Sam Houston
 
Last time out
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. 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.
 
Game 1 Recap – In Thibodaux: Northwestern State 80, Nicholls 79
The Colonels basketball team led by as many as 19 points at one point during the second half, but a 16-2 run by the Northwestern State Demons gave the visitors enough momentum to overtake Nicholls late, and stole one on the road 80-79 in Thibodaux Wednesday night. With only nine players suiting up for the Colonels (4-11, 0-3 SLC) in the game, Nicholls had five players finish in double figures, led by Shane Rillieux's team-high 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Trevon Lewis, Jeremy Smith and Sterling Bailey each finished with 14. The Colonels led from the outset of the game, but with the score 52-33 with 17:38 remaining in the second period, the Demons (9-7, 2-0) began to rally, first going on 6-0 run to get to within 11 of the Colonels. Even with a Smith jumper to put Nicholls up 13, Northwestern State went on to outscore the Colonels by the 16-2 margin to make the score 57-55 Nicholls with 9:18 remaining in the contest. It seemed as if the Colonels would be able to hold off the Northwestern State onslaught getting clutch shots from Bailey and Smith, as Smith hit the first 3-pointer of his career with 5:59 left to put the Colonels up 65-61. But the Demons fought back once again trailing by six after two Rillieux made free throws going on a 7-0 run, capped by the Demons' only three pointer of the night coming from James Hulbin, to take the lead and hold off the Colonels for the last three minutes of the game. Bailey would hit a three at the buzzer to make the final score 80-79. 
 
Charging Colonels
After beginning the conference schedule 1-7 and getting beat by an average of 16 points per game, the Colonels have become a completely different team in the second half rattling off five of their last six in conference, and five of their last seven out of it. Not including the Bracketbuster game against IUPUI, the Colonels have won by an average of seven points over their run, including two blowout wins over Lamar and Texas State in the process. Nicholls' only loss came in overtime on the road against Stephen F. Austin, and the squad only lost by four points. The Colonels have held their conference opponents to just over 67 points per game during that time, while the Colonels have been shooting a blistering 52-percent from the field, while holding Southland foes to just 41-percent.
 
Colonels field one of the most youthful teams in the nation
Coming into the season, the Colonels knew they would be tested in terms of knowing how to win, but this year might prove to be the toughest yet as Nicholls will field one of the least experienced teams in the country. With four true freshmen, and two junior transfers, among four other players who did not play in 2010-11, only St. John's matches the Colonels in freshness as the Red Storm lost seven players from last year's team and more than 95-percent of their overall production from a year ago. The Colonels and Red Storm each have ten players who will see time on the floor for the first time this year.
 
Semi-automatic Smith
Redshirt sophomore Jeremy Smith is having one of the most pleasantly surprising seasons for any Colonel this season. Coming into this season with only 13 games played total in his Nicholls career, Smith will look to have more starts by the end of this season, and more than double that in games played in just one year. The former John Ehret Patriot is shooting 57-percent from the field, and has made at least five shots in a game seven times. Since the year started, Smith has is one of three players to play in every game this year for the Colonels, has made a shot in every game except for one and is only one of two players to do so this year and tied a Nicholls record going 5-of-5 from the field against Dillard. He's garnered two double-doubles on the year and has seven double-digit scoring games this year. He also made the first three pointer of his career this season, and has made four this year after only attempting one in the season before. He was named the College Sports Madness Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week Feb. 27.
 
Many Reasons For Success
Sophomore Dantrell Thomas, who has battled a calf injury since the beginning of the season, has turned up his offensive play as of late, with six straight double-digit scoring games, earning Southland Conference Player of the Week honors the week of Feb. 6. He showed his aggressive play over the course of two games earlier in the season, scoring nine points in five minutes against ULM and six points in seven minutes against Texas. Since league play began, Thomas is averaging over 14 points a game, three points better than his season average, and averaged 20 points per game over four games from Feb. 1-11.
 
HAMM-ing it up
Sophomore Bryan Hammond has taken advantage of his increased playing time, leading the team in scoring five times already this year, with 11 double-digit scoring games to his credit. Against Southeastern Jan 21, Hammond played every minute on the court and hit the game-winning shot to snap the Colonels six-game losing streak. Bryan Hammond also ranks in the top 200 individual players in the nation with a 1.7 assist-turnover ratio, and in the top ten in the conference in that category and assists. Against Central Arkansas Feb. 22, Hammond dished out a season-high eight assists in the Colonel win, upping is total to over three assists per game.
  
Going the Distance
Shane Rillieux played all 40 minutes in the 86-65 loss to the Warhawks Nov. 28, but in the process scored 12 points for the second straight game and dished out a season-best four assists. Against the Lumberjacks Feb. 4, Rillieux played 42 minutes, the most for the Colonels in the overtime game, and scored a career high 17 points. On the season Rillieux has played in 37 minutes or more in a game six times.
 
Sterling Performance
Heading into the game against the Warhawks, Sterling Bailey had two points off of free throws in nine total minutes on the season. Against ULM the redshirt freshman set career highs in every major statistical category except for blocks and steals. In 19 minutes off of the bench Bailey shot an efficient 75-percent from the field and drained two of three 3-point attempts and was a perfect 2-of-2 at the free throw line. Coming off of the bench again against Northwestern State, Bailey drained five of nine shots on the night and hit a game-high four 3-pointers to finish tied for second on the team in points with 14. It's a new career mark in points for Bailey.
 
Injuries mount
Already without Fred Hunter for the entire season, the Colonels have dealt with a rash of injuries as of late, without the services of starters in Ben Martin, Dantrell Thomas Chris Talkington and Lachlan Prest. Martin (back) has not played since the win over Houston Baptist in the ULL tournament, while Thomas has missed games with a deep calf bruise sustained in his 17-point performance in the HBU win. Thomas only played six minutes against ULL the next day and finally returned to the lineup against UTA Jan. 7. While Prest came off the bench to play against UTSA, he did not play against the Mavericks three days later and will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Talkington, who suffered a knee sprain against UNC, will be a game-to-game decision. The bug has also hit the reserves as well, affecting junior guard Pedro Maciel who has been battling a knee injury. Maciel played in the Colonels' exhibition against Mobile but has been held out to recover.
 
Talkington, Lewis named to Beryl Shipley All-Tournament Team
Sophomore Chris Talkington and Freshman Trevon Lewis were named to the 2011 Beryl Shipley Classic All-Tournament team after both averaged double-digit points over the three day tournament. Talkington averaged 17 points per game in the tournament and finished as the second leading scorer in the classic. Talkington was leading scorer in two of the three games for the Colonels. Against the Titans, Talkington scored the first eight points for Nicholls to start the game, had 14 of Nicholls' 35 points in the first half against the Huskies and was one rebound away from the first double-double of his career against the Ragin' Cajuns. Lewis was one of a handful of players to drop in more than 20 points in the classic, and his 21 points against the Huskies is the highest by a Nicholls player this year. Lewis made his first seven shots and did not have a miss until midway through the second period as he finished the game going 8-for-9 from the floor and a perfect 2-for-2 from behind the 3-point line. It is the second time this year he's come off the bench to be the leading scorer.
 
Three's the key
The Colonels have established themselves as one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league, sitting in the top half in the Southland. The Colonels have attempted over 100 already, and along with Texas State, has had two double-digit three point field goals made in games this season. The Colonels have the most with the 13 they made against LSU in the season opener. Of the nine players that have hit four in a game this year, Talkington has done it twice.
 
Lewis leading the way
Freshman Trevon Lewis scored 19 points to lead all scorers against LSU in his first game as a Colonel. The Houma native hit his first six shots in the game and finished going 7-of-8 from the field and 2-of-2 from the behind the three point line. For his efforts he earned honorable mention in Southland Player of the Week voting the week of Nov. 14. Lewis is in the top ten in field goal percentage and scoring shooting 50-percent from the field and averaging 13.0 points per game.
 
Youth will be served
With the graduation of four seniors from last year's team, including 2011 Louisiana Player of the Year Anatoly Bose, the Colonels will rely on just one senior (Ben Martin) to lead this year's squad. There are a total of seven newcomers that dot the lineup, including four freshmen (Lachlan Prest, Sam McBeath, Shane Rillieux, Trevon Lewis), two transfers (Pedro Maciel, Linden Smith-Hyde) and one walk-on (Zach West). The only returning players with significant playing time are Bryan Hammond and Dantrell Thomas who each saw playing time in all 28 games last year.
 
Hunter to sit out season to rehab
Nicholls' second leading scorer from last year, Fred Hunter, will sit out the 2011-12 season while he continues to rehab after suffering a season-ending knee injury 20 games into the season. Averaging over 15 points per game, the Colonels will need a combined effort to make up for the loss of production.
 
Fourth time's the charm
With making the conference tournament for the third consecutive year in 2010-11, the Colonels will look to tie a school record making a fourth-straight trip to the postseason party. It's been done two more times in school history, with four appearances from 92-95, and again from 98-01.
 
Extended stay
In the offseason Nicholls Athletics signed J.P. Piper to a three-year extension, the first multi-year deal in program history. Entering his eighth season, it means that Piper will be only the third coach in team history to have a tenure that will last a decade. It would make him the second longest tenured coach in team history, with 11 years, just one shy of tying Don Landry and Rickey Broussard who each had 12. He also holds special company with those two coaches as he has had four-straight double-digit winning seasons. If he can add a fifth in 2011-12, he will tie the record with Broussard for the second most ever with five-in-a-row.
 
Southland releases 2011-12 conference polls
The Southland conference released its SID and coaches polls, and the Colonels are picked to finish fifth in one and sixth in the other. The Colonels are tied with Central Arkansas in the SID poll with 26 points, while the coaches placed the Colonels in the sixth spot with 22 points.
 
Colonels Tabbed For Three TV Games
The Nicholls State University men's basketball team will have three games televised this year featuring the Colonels taking on the Texas Longhorns, North Carolina Tar Heels and Northwestern State Demons the conference announced. The Colonels-Demons matchup on Feb. 29 is one of the 15 featured games for the Southland Conference Television Network schedule in 2011-12, and will include 10 regular-season tilts along with the men's and women's tournament semifinals and finals in March. Before conference, the Colonels' games against the Longhorns on Dec 13 will be televised on the new Longhorn Network, and clash with preseason No. 1 North Carolina will be covered on ESPNU.
 
Martin named to College Sports Madness Preseason All-Conference Team
Redshirt senior Ben Martin was named to the 2011 CollegeSportsMadness.com Preseason All-Southland teams, earning a fourth team selection. The 6-1 guard started all 28 games for the Colonels last year, averaging 4.5 points in 29 minutes of action per game. He was a 31-percent shooter from the field and from beyond the arc.
 
No “Hand down, Man down”
Nicholls was one of the best defensive teams in the nation last year, holding opponents to just under 63 points per game. That number put them in the top-40 in the country and was the second best mark in the league. The 8.8 steals per game average was also the second best in the Southland and was ranked 39th nationally, while having a positive turnover margin of 4.4 was the sixth best in the country.
 
Home is where the wins are
Since the 2008-09 season, the Stopher Gym has become a nearly impossible place to win for opponents, having a combined 31-6 record the last three years. In that time the team has had records of 11-2, 9-2 and 11-2 in the friendly confines.
 
TV: SLC TV
Live Stream: ESPN3.com
Broadcast Team: Lyn Rollins (play-by-play), Jim Haller (color)
Radio: 100.3 FM KLRZ (Larose, La); 1600 KLEB (Golden Meadow, La.)
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Colonels on the Internet: www.klrzfm.com
Live Stats: www.nsudemons.com