THIBODAUX, La. – After stepping out of conference play for the final time this season last weekend, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team begins its final road swing of the season beginning on Thursday night, taking on the Sam Houston State Bearkats at 7:45 p.m. in Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville.
 
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Colonels are sitting in sixth place overall in the league standings with four games remaining with two this week and next week. Nicholls is 7-18 on the year and 6-8 in conference play, a game behind the Bearkats for the fifth spot in the race to the conference tournament in Katy next month.
 
The Colonels participated in the Ramada WorldWide BracketBusters event last Saturday, taking on the UTSA Roadrunners on the road, falling 76-58 at the Convocation Center in San Antonio. The Colonels were without Fred Hunter who rested a sore hamstring and lost T.J. Carpenter after getting poked in the eye and did not return to the game. It was the team's 16^th loss in the last 18 to the Roadrunners dating back to when they were members of the Southland. Nicholls has lost six of its last seven, earning just the win over Lamar during that time to snap a five-game losing skid.
 
Nicholls got solid play from starting forward JaMarkus Horace who scored a team-high 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting, grabbing a season-high nine rebounds as one of three players to score in double figures for the Colonels on the afternoon. Horace has led the team in scoring twice this year, and in rebounding four times. Dantrell Thomas and Amin Torres each had ten in the loss, as Thomas scored in double figures for the second consecutive game while Torres scored in double figures for the tenth game this season and led the bench in scoring for the 14^th time on the year.
 
Nicholls will be looking to earn its first season sweep of Sam Houston State since 2001, as the Colonels pulled out the overtime win 70-67 back in Thibodaux on Jan. 26. It snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bearkats which dated back to the 2010 season, making the game on Thursday pivotal as Nicholls would own the tiebreaker over Sam Houston if the two are tied at the end of the season. Sam Houston State is 14-13 on the season, and sports an 8-5 record in Johnson Coliseum this year.
 
The Bearkats lost to Eastern Washington last weekend 81-76 in their BracketBusters game, losing three of their last four. Sam Houston does not have a player averaging double figure points this season, with its two leading scorers averaging 8.6 points per game, but does have eight players averaging five or more on the year.
 
Nicholls is looking for its first win in Huntsville since 2009, looking to get its fourth win on the road this season and first since defeating Northwestern State on the road on Jan. 7.
 
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 KLEB (Golden Meadow, La.)
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.lamarcardinals.com