Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – Trailing for the entire length of the game, and falling behind by as many as 18 points in the second half, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team outscored Sam Houston State 42-27 in the second half and overtime combined to defeat the Bearkats 70-67 Saturday night in Thibodeaux.

With the win the Colonels improve to 6-12 on the year and 5-3 in Southland Conference play, bringing the team's record in Stopher Gym to 4-1 on the season. Sam Houston State falls to 11-9 and 4-4 in league play, extending the Bearkats' losing streak to three games.

After giving up 40 points in the first half to Sam Houston, the Colonels clamped down defensively on the Bearkats in the second, holding a potent offense that shot 56 percent from the field in the first half to just five made shots down the stretch, as Sam Houston made just seven shots in the final two periods and finished with a 36-percent clip from the field for the game.

Dantrell Thomas played in a game-high 42 minutes on the night and led all players with 15 points, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. Thomas was the only starter to score in double-figures as he scored nine in the second and four in the overtime session, as the Colonels got the biggest scoring punch from its bench as Amin Torres scored 12 points all in the first half, as T.J. Carpenter returned to the action for the first time since the Northwestern State game and scored 11 points with three 3-pointers made on the night.

More than halfway through the first period, the Colonels had only scored nine points before eventually finding its offensive touch from Torres off the bench as the Colonels went into the locker room down 12, 40-28, as Sam Houston hit 15 shots in the period, with six coming from behind the 3-point line. Linden Smith-Hyde was the only Nicholls starter with more than three points heading into the break, as the rest of the unit had two each.

The 18-point Bearkat lead came on a 6-0 run out of the gate in the second, as Sam Houston State led 46-28 and had no signs of slowing for the remainder of the game, but everything changed for the Colonels on the next two possessions as back-to-back three's by Carpenter ignited a 20-6 Colonel rally that spanned nearly seven minutes to pull the Colonels to within four at 52-48 with a little more than 11 minutes remaining in the contest.

Sam Houston State pushed the lead back to seven points after converting all five free throw attempts in a span of 2:42, with a Fred Hunter layup mixed in to go up 57-50 with 8:13 left. Hunter eventually fouled out of the game late in the period, scoring six of his eight points in the second half. The Bearkats shot 14 free throws in the period and made just eight, which would come back to bite the visitors in the end, as they were 1-for-4 in the overtime period to finish 12-for-20 on the night.

With the clock winding down, Nicholls had just seven minutes left to come back and make a game of it, and did so in a big way by going on a 10-3 run, capped by Thomas as he got fouled on a layup and converted the subsequent free throw to tie the game at 60 apiece. Sam Houston State got off a desperation shot and was able to grab the rebound but turned the ball over as the two teams went into overtime.

The Bearkats wasted little time in scoring, hitting a big 3-pointer 30-seconds in to take a 63-30 lead. But the lead would be short-lived as Nicholls rattled off eight-straight points to go up 68-63 with less than two minutes left in overtime.

However, that eight-point swing was not enough to stop Sam Houston State from pressing, as the Bearkats got a 3-pointer to go pull within two, and got fouled on the other end of the court and went to the line for two with a chance to tie. The Bearkats made just one free throw to make the score 68-67, and forced Nicholls into a team turnover and got fouled again to take the lead with two more free throws attempts, but missed both to keep the score where it was, fouling Thomas who made both free throws to push the lead back to three points as the last-second heave by Sam Houston fell short giving Nicholls the win.

Nicholls finished the night going 19-for-26 at the charity stripe, hitting all four free-throw chances in overtime to ice the game. Of the ten points Nicholls scored in the extra frame, six came from layups in the paint, with two coming on a second chance opportunity. The Colonels scored 26 points in the paint on the night, outscoring Sam Houston's bench 30-28. Sam Houston grabbed 15 offensive boards, but outrebounded the Colonels by one, as the two teams finished tied in second chance points with ten each. Sam Houston scored 22 points off of 17 Nicholls turnovers, but after getting 17 in the first half, got just five for the remainder of the game.

Nicholls will close out the first half of Southland play next weekend, traveling to take on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Thursday. The game will be televised live on Fox College Sports.