THIBODAUX, La. – With no Thursday game this week, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team returns to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon hosting the Southeastern Louisiana Lions at 2 p.m. in Stopher Gym in Thibodaux.

The doubleheader that day against the Lions and Lady Lions was pushed up from the usual 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. slot to Noon and 2 p.m. to accommodate some of the Mardi Gras festivities in and around the Thibodaux area, with both games being streamed live on Colonels All-Access. It is the first of three games in Stopher Gym over the next two weeks, as the Colonels will welcome Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin next weekend.
 
The extra time off gave the Colonels a few days to recover from the longest road trip of the season, spanning nearly 1400 miles, as Nicholls had a tough weekend falling to both Oral Roberts and Central Arkansas last Thursday and Saturday. The losses dropped the team's record to 6-14 overall on the year and 5-5 in Southland Conference play. The losses makes this weekend even more pivotal for the Colonels, as Nicholls was neck-and-neck with the Lions in the league standings going into last weekend's games, as Nicholls is now a game back of SLU who is currently fourth.
 
Despite two losses last week, the Colonels were still able to get some standout performances led by Fred Hunter, who was named the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday. Hunter scored 30-plus points in both games over the weekend, tying his career high of 36 against the Bears, shooting 69 percent from the floor, 50 percent from behind the 3-point line and 82 percent from the free throw line in both games. He was the only person to attempt free throws against the Golden Eagles, as he's led the team in scoring 12 times and in rebounding 13 times after pulling down 11 against UCA.
 
Coming off of a big weekend, Hunter will head into another as he will play in his 100^th game at Nicholls on Saturday, becoming the 29^th player in team history to do so.
 
Amin Torres has become the go-to scorer off the bench for Nicholls recently, as he has three-straight double-digit scoring games and nine on the season. With nine double figure scoring games, the freshman is averaging 8.1 points per game in a reserve role, seeing 17.3 minutes per game on the floor. He set two new season bests last Thursday against ORU, playing in 31 minutes, scoring 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. IN the last three games alone, Torres has drilled seven 3-pointers, with three coming against the Golden Eagles.
 
Seeing some of his best career numbers to date, Dantrell Thomas has seen a surge in his stats over the course of the season, averaging a career best 13.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game so far this season. Against Central Arkansas, the junior grabbed a career-high 11 boards, with seven coming on the offensive end. Defensively, the 6-2 guard leads the team in blocks with 15, after having all of just eight in the previous two years combined.
The Colonels will be looking to avenge the loss from earlier in the season against the Lions, as SLU comes into the game 8-12 on the year and 6-4 in the Southland. The Lions defeated Nicholls 70-65 in Hammond, with Southeastern owning a 48-40 all-time record against Nicholls all-time.
 
In that first game, Brandon Fortenberry and Roosevelt Johnson combined for 35 points and 15 rebounds as the two continue to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, respectively. Johnson had Southeastern's play of the season when he hit the game winner against Central Arkansas with less than a second remaining to escape with a 70-69 win, as the Lions spilt their road trip losing to ORU two days later. This season the Lions are 2-10 in games away from Hammond, with a 2-3 mark in league play.
 
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)
Colonels on the Internet: www.klrzfm.com
Live Stats: www.geauxcolonels.com