Final Stats NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Against Northwestern State on Thursday, the Nicholls men's basketball team was able to outgun the Demons who had the second-best scoring offense in the country. Unfortunately on Saturday, the Colonels were not able to figure out the nation's top-ranked scoring defense in Stephen F. Austin, as the Lumberjacks defeated the Colonels 72-49 in Johnson Coliseum in Nacogdoches.

With the Loss the Colonels fall to 4-12 on the season and 3-3 in the Southland Conference. Nicholls is now 2-9 on the road this season as SFA remains perfect at home and in Southland Conference play with a 16-1 overall record and 7-0 league mark.

The Nicholls offense ran through senior guard Fred Hunter, as he finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Although his streak of three-straight double-doubles came to an end, Hunter scored 20-plus points for the seventh time this year and for the 24th time in his career. Jeremy Smith was the only other player to score in double figures for the Colonels with ten points.

Stephen F. Austin came into the game with the best field goal percentage in the Southland, making over 48 percent of its shots, and finished the night on Saturday with a 53-percent clip from the field and was accurate from inside and out, hitting eight 3-pointers in the game and taking just seven free throws.

Up by 13 at the break, The Lumberjacks went on an 8-0 run four minutes into the second to take a 44-23 lead and never looked back from that point, going on to outscore the Colonels 16-8 after eight minutes and held the Colonels to 26 points in the second while hitting the 70-point plateau for the eighth time this season. Nicholls was the 49th team Stephen F. Austin held below 70 points, a streak dating back to last season.

Known for its low scoring first half periods, the Lumberjacks did exactly what they've been doing to teams all season in keeping the scoring low after the first 20 minutes. SFA went into the locker room up 36-23 after shooting 56 percent in the half, as the Lumberjacks also lead the Southland in field goal percentage as well as scoring defense.

For a while, Hunter was the Nicholls offense as he accounted for 14 of Nicholls' 15 points midway through the period after shooting 6-for-9 from the field and hit both of his 3-point attempts, but got a spark from Smith who scored seven in the half with Shane Rillieux providing the other two points.

The lead changed three times in the first eight minutes, but Stephen F. Austin took the lead going on an 11-3 run after the Colonels got to the eight point mark to take a 13-8 lead. It wouldn't be the last run for the 'Jacks as they closed out the period outscoring the Colonels 10-3 which lasted over the last 3:47 of the first.

After having just one player in double figures in the first half, SFA had four players finish with double-digits as ten different Lumberjack players scored on the night. Stephen F. Austin scored 40 points in the paint, got 17 points off of 15 Nicholls turnovers and outscored the Colonel bench 19-7.

The Colonels will return to Stopher Gym on Thursday, taking on the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders at 7:30 p.m. The doubleheader that night will be a part of the “Stuff Stopher” promotion where all Nicholls faculty and staff will be able to get in free. Before the women's game at 5 p.m., there will be a free tailgate from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the quad.