CONWAY, Ark. – With a tough loss behind them, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Central Arkansas Bears at 4 p.m. in the Farris Center in Conway.
 
Nicholls, tackling its longest road trip of the season this weekend, faces the Bears in the final game of the season series, as the Colonels won the first meeting between the two teams to open Southland play in early January.
 
The Colonels are coming off of a hard-fought 90-78 loss to Oral Roberts on Thursday night, where both teams combined to make 64 shots on the night, as the Golden Eagles had just enough offense to outpace Nicholls late in the game. With a 37-all tie in the first half, Nicholls and ORU combined for 94 second-half points, as the Golden Eagles led by as many as 14 points late after Nicholls cut the Oral Roberts lead to just two points midway through the final period.
 
Nicholls had three players in double figures in the game, led by Fred Hunter who scored 33 points and pulled down seven rebounds on the night, helping offset the four Golden Eagle players who scored in the double-digits on the night. It's the second time this season that the senior has scored 30 or more points in a game, falling just three points shy of tying the career-high he set earlier this year against UNO. Hunter was also the entirety of the offense at the free throw line, as he took all 14 attempts, making 11.
 
The Colonels used just eight players on the night, with five players logging 31 minutes or more and got solid play from Dantrell Thomas who scored in double figures for the third consecutive game with his 12 points, six boards and four assists. All of the scoring off of the bench came from Amin Torres, who scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting in 31 floor minutes. Torres himself outscored the entire ORU bench on the night 17-11, as he hit three of Nicholls' five 3-pointers on the night.
 
UCA enters the game on Saturday after dropping a heartbreaking 70-69 decision to Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, losing in the final seconds on a last-second shot off of an inbounds play. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Bears, dropping Central Arkansas to 8-11 on the year and 3-6 in league play. Although the team is 5-5 at home at the Farris Center this season, SLC opponents have been none too kind as the Bears are 2-3 against league foes.
 
The Bears were dealt a huge blow to their chances this weekend as this past week's league player of the week in Jarvis Garner was suspended for two games for unspecified reasons. Garner is the team's leading scorer averaging 16.1 points per game, with two games this year with 38 points. UCA will look to LaQuentin Miles and Robert Crawford to handle the scoring load, as the two are averaging 15.6 and 14.6 points per game, respectively.
 
The radio broadcast of the game will begin with the Colonel Countdown pregame show, beginning 15 minutes prior to the start of the contest.
 
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
TV: None
Radio: 100.3 FM KLRZ (Larose, La.); 1600 AM KLEB (Golden Meadow, La.)
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Colonels on the Internet: www.klrzfm.com
Live Stats: www.ucasports.com