Final Stats SLU-Nicholls Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. – The offensive woes continued for the Nicholls men's basketball team in the first half of Saturday's game against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, and the Colonels would need to rally until the end, eventually falling 68-58 in Stopher Gym.

The Colonels (10-19, 6-10) will now go into next week's Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament as the eighth seed, facing the No. 1 seeded UT-Arlington Mavericks at 6 p.m. Wednesday night in Katy, Texas.

Before the game, the Colonels recognized Ben Martin on Senior Day, as the E.D. White product played for three years as a member of the Nicholls men's basketball team.

Shane Rillieux finished the night with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting to lead the Colonels, followed by Dantrell Thomas who finished with 13 points off of the bench in his first game back since sustaining an injury two weeks ago. Sam McBeath grabbed double-digit rebounds for the second time this year, pulling down a career-high 11.

The Lions (12-17, 5-11 SLC) had four players in double figures, led by Todd Nelson's 19 points, and got a double-double by Roosevelt Johnson with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Hoping to end the season on a high note, the Colonels and Lions struggled to get anything going offensively, as Nicholls held a 2-0 lead for the first four minutes of the game. From there, however, the Lions began to force the issue and began to find a comfort zone, going on a 10-0 run to take a 10-2 lead, keeping Nicholls scoreless for nearly seven minutes.

Southeastern closed out the last 12 minutes of the first half outscoring the Colonels 20-14, heading into the locker room with a 30-18 lead.

The Colonels outscored the Lions 40-38 in the final period, but would only get as close as eight points in the final minute of the contest with a couple of Chris Talkington 3-pointers and layups from McBeath and Rillieux.

By that point, Southeastern had gone on an 8-0 run in the first ten minutes of the second period, and led by as many as 23 points with 11:30 left in the game, outscoring Nicholls 17-8.

Making only six shots in the first half for a 25-percent clip, the Colonels nailed 14 shots in the second, finishing the day at 34-percent from the floor, and just 18-percent from behind the 3-point line with four makes. Southeastern made 11 shots in the first half, and finished the game off shooting nearly 62-percent from the floor to finish 25-for-45 from the field for 53-percent.

Although Nicholls grabbed four less rebounds in the game, the Colonels doubled up in offensive boards by grabbing 12, and scored 12 points off of second chance opportunities. The Colonels also scored 13 points off of Southeastern turnovers and 24 points off of the bench. The Lions scored 32 points in the paint and eight on fast breaks.

Stay tuned to geauxcolonels.com, facebook.com/geauxcolonels and twitter.com/colonelsports for more information on the upcoming Southland Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament