Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles used a 10-0 run out of the gate and shot 53 percent from the field on the night to defeat the Nicholls men's basketball team 76-63 Saturday evening in Stopher Gym.

The loss drops the Colonels to 2-10 overall on the season and 1-1 in Southland Conference play, while ORU improves to 7-7 and 2-0 in the league.

The Golden Eagles shot 66 percent in the first half and took a 41-26 lead into the break behind 18 made baskets. Although the pace for ORU slowed down in the second as the Colonels began to find some rhythm in the half, Nicholls would not be able to overcome the league's leader in scoring as Warren Niles finished with a game-high 29 points and Damen Bell-Holter's 26.

With no players scoring in double figures in the first half, the Colonels finished with four players scoring in the double digits, led by Dantrell Thomas' season-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting with four steals and two blocks. Jeremy Smith and Shane Rillieux each netted their second consecutive double-digit scoring night to finish with 11 each, while Amin Torres was the bulk of the scoring off the bench scoring all 11 of his points in the second half.

While ORU's two leading scorers paved the way for the Golden Eagles on the night in Niles and Bell-Holter, the Colonels' two were mostly held in check as Fred Hunter was saddled with foul trouble and scored just three points in 15 minutes, while T.J. Carpenter was just 2-for-11 from the field and did not make a 3-pointer in a game for the first time this season. Carpenter did lead the team in rebounding after pulling down a career best nine on the night.

After scoring the first two points of the game, Nicholls would see its deficit grow quickly as they trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half, and by 21 toward the game's end. The closest the Colonels got to the Golden Eagles was seven points which came with the score 21-14 with 10:19 left in the first. The last time the deficit was single digits was a few minutes later as the team trailed 29-17 with 5:52 left and for the most of the night was down by double-digits.

Nicholls forced ORU into 20 turnovers while committing just six during the game to hold a 16-9 advantage, while outscoring the Golden Eagle bench 15-8 on the night.

Oral Roberts scored 40 points in the paint to Nicholls' 34, and got 16 second chance points on 12 offensive rebounds as ORU outrebounded the Colonels 42-23. The Golden Eagles also had 16 assists on 28 of their total made shots on the night, while Nicholls managed just four out of 23 made baskets.

The Colonels will have a short turnaround, preparing to take on the McNeese State Cowboys in Lake Charles on Monday night, which begins a four-game conference road swing over the next two weeks.