Final Stats NATCHITOCHES, La. – On Thursday night, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team held the No. 2 scoring offense in the country to 21 percent shooting in the first half and led by as many as 24 points in the second half in a 93-78 win over Northwestern State in Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches.

Nicholls improves to 4-11 in the win and 3-2 in Southland Conference play, winning its second road game of the season in the process. Northwestern State falls to 10-6 on the season and 4-2 in league play, dropping its first home game of the season.

Fred Hunter scored 15 of his game-leading 27 in the second period, going 10-for-15 from the field in the game, and 5-for-8 from the free throw line. It was Hunter's sixth game with 20 or more points this season, as he also grabbed 10 rebounds for his third-straight double-double and fifth of the year. Jeremy Smith scored in double-digits for the fourth time in five games with his 18 point performance, while Dantrell Thomas in front of numerous friends and family finished with 17 points.

With arguably the toughest two games in front of them this weekend, the Colonels did not look fazed by the notion of playing one of the country's highest-scoring teams in Northwestern State on Thursday, as Nicholls led by as many as 24 points up 52-28 with 14:49 left in the second. At that point, the Demons seemed to be crumbling under the weight of missed open looks under the basket.

But the Demons wouldn't let the Colonels get a win that easy in Prather on Thursday, as the Colonels had to weather a furious NSU comeback as the Demons went on a 16-0 run using up 3:24 of the clock, turning a 21-point deficit to just eight with the Colonels leading 52-44 with 11:15 left in the second.

Northwestern State was shooting better in the second half to the tune of a 50-percent clip, but after that run by NSU, the Colonels outscored the Demons 15-7 to go back up 16 points, 67-51. That run was the difference for Nicholls, as the Colonels put enough of a distance between themselves and the Demons to stave off any NSU rally, keeping the lead at double-digits for the remaining of the contest.

Coming into the game forcing opposing teams to turn the ball over nearly 17 times per game in conference play, the Colonels forced the Demons into 23, holding a 24-17 advantage in points off turnovers, committing 16.

Averaging over 40 points in the first half this season, the Colonels held the usually high-scoring Demons in check for most of the first period as Northwestern State could not get anything to fall offensively for most of the half. More than two-thirds of the way through, Northwestern State was shooting just 24 percent with five made shots, while the Colonels had nearly a dozen. Nicholls finished the half shooting 16-for-37 from the field for a 43-percent clip, while NSU was 7-of-33 for a 21-percent mark.

By just looking at the first four minutes of the half it seemed as if it would be another high scoring affair, with one tie and six lead changes in the first three minutes alone. The stunned Prather Coliseum crowd watched as the Demons fell behind by as many as 19 points late in the period, as the Colonels went into the locker room up 39-22.

With the score 13-12 NSU, Nicholls took the lead for good going on an 11-0 run spanning just over three minutes to take a 23-13 lead with less than nine minutes remaining. Including that run, the Colonels were beating the Demons at their own game, outscoring Northwestern State 27-7 for over a ten minute span to extend the lead even further.

Nicholls got balanced play offensively, as Hunter and Thomas were both in double figures with ten points each. Hunter was well on his way to his third-straight double-double performance, after grabbing seven rebounds, while Smith had seven and Amin Torres had five points off of the bench.

Nicholls will return to the court on Saturday night, taking on league-leading Stephen F. Austin in the William R. Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches.