Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team had four players score in double figures and shot 56 percent from the field with 10 3-pointers, withstanding a late rally by the visiting UTSA Roadrunners to earn its first win of the season on Tuesday night, 79-73, in Stopher Gym.

With the win the Colonels (1-4) snap their four-game losing streak to start this season and six-gamer that dated back to the end of last season. UTSA (1-5) earned its second loss of the season on the road and suffered its first loss to Nicholls since 2011.

The Colonels shot out of the gate like a cannon getting three 3-pointers from T.J. Carpenter and never looked back as the team would not relinquish the lead from the opening tip and defeated the Roadrunners by netting 10 of the team's 27 made shots from the field from downtown to keep a large lead over the visitors for much of the contest.

Dantrell Thomas nearly messed around and earned a triple-double, finishing the night with a game-high 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting with nine rebounds, nine assists, a block and two steals. By the end of the first half, Thomas had already earned seven of his assists and eight of his rebounds with six points.

Thomas was one of four Nicholls players to score in double figures in the game, as Jeremy Smith continues his hot start with 15 points of 6-of-8 from the field, followed by Carpenter and Amin Torres with 11 each. Carpenter and Torres combined to nail six of the team's 10 3-pointers, with the four others coming from Smith, Shane Rillieux, and Luke Doyle.

UTSA rebounded in a big way after being held to just 27 points in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 46 second-half points en route to a 56 percent clip in the final period, cutting the lead to single digits with less than five minutes remaining. The Roadrunners had five players finish with double-digit points, led by Devon Agusi's 16 points.

A 3-pointer by Doyle with 4:42 remaining in the contest pushed the Nicholls lead to 11, as that bucket was the last the Colonels would get from the field for the rest of the contest, as UTSA closed out the game outscoring Nicholls 14-9, with Nicholls able to push through by connecting on nine free throws in the final 4:39 to maintain the lead and hold on for the win.

Overall the Colonels struggled again from the charity stripe, going 15-for-29 from the line, going 3-of-4 in the first half before making 12 of 25 attempts in the second half for a 52 percent mark. Fortunately, Nicholls would not be done in by fouls and free throws by the opposing side, even as UTSA went 28-for-36 from the line, including 17-for-21 in the second half.

Already leading by 10 points up 37-27 after closing out the first half on a 12-2 run, the Colonels would take their largest lead of the game going up 15 by outscoring the Roadrunners 19-14 over the course of the first eight minutes of the second to take a 56-41 lead with nearly much of the half already gone. Nicholls was 7-of-9 from the field during that stretch, which included going 3-for-4 from beyond three and forcing UTSA into three of their 15 turnovers on the night, as Smith scored seven points during that run

UTSA began to power its way into the lane for much of the next 10 minutes as the Roadrunners finished the night scoring 36 points in the paint, and began to force the Colonels into some costly turnovers and earned 13 points off of Nicholls miscues. The Roadrunner bench also proved to be helpful as they got 28 points from their reserves to Nicholls' 22.

Nicholls will be back in action on Saturday, Dec. 7, hosting the Loyola of New Orleans Wolfpack at 3:30 p.m. in Thibodaux.