Final Stats THIBODAUX, La. – Trailing by as many as eight points with less than 10 minutes left in the game, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team went on to outscore the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 20-12 over the final 9:11 of the second period to force overtime and got clutch free throws from senior Dantrell Thomas on a career night that helped push the Colonels to a 73-72 conference win Thursday night at Stopher Gym in Thibodaux.

Staring down a 64-58 deficit with 3:02 on the clock, the Colonels (9-8, 6-2 SLC) found themselves in need of a spark to try and make a comeback of any kind, and got one in the form of a T.J. Carpenter 3-pointer that pulled the Colonels within one of ORU (10-11, 4-4) after made free throws from Shane Rillieux and Thomas at 65-64. That run grew to seven points and was capped by a Jeremy Smith jumper with 33 seconds remaining to give the home side its first lead since early in the second period.

However, a foul off of a Shawn Glover rebound sent Sam McBeath to the bench with his fifth foul and ORU's Korey Billbury to the line with a chance to give the lead back to the Golden Eagles. He only made one of two as the two teams remained time as the clock hit triple digits after a desperation shot for the Colonels fell short.

The overtime period began as a free throw shooting contest, as Thomas drilled two to give Nicholls a 67-65 lead. It would be the only two points Nicholls saw early as Billbury scored three-straight on a free throw and field goal to give ORU the edge at 68-67 with 2:07 left in the extra session. Billbury's jumper kick started a battle between the Golden Eagles and Smith, as the redshirt senior scored consecutive buckets to snatch the lead on back-to-back trips down the floor, giving the Colonels a 69-68 and 71-70 advantage and the New Orleans product 23 points on the night. But another short lived lead came in the form of two Glover free throws off of a technical foul to push the visitors back up 72-71 with 20 ticks left.

After racing the ball past half court, Nicholls got the ball into the hands of its sure-shot guard in Thomas, who got fouled on a layup sending him to the line for two. After drilling the first for the fourth and final tie of the contest, the Many, La., native sank the other giving him a career high night on two fronts with his game-leading 28 points on 15-of-18 from the charity stripe. Thomas, who was 6-of-8 from the line in the second half and overtime, scored 23 of his points in the final 25 minutes alone, after accounting for just five in the first half.

Holding on for dear life, Billbury drove the length of the court and fired up a prayer from the free throw line in the final seconds that went off the back of the rim and was knocked out of bounds securing the comeback victory for the Colonels. Nicholls is now 6-1 at home in Thibodaux, including sporting a 4-1 mark against league competition.

After shooting just 29 percent in the first half with just six made shots, Nicholls broke through in a big way hitting double the amount of shots in the second half and finishing the game 22-of-49 for a 45 percent clip. The team also clamped down defensively in a big way, as ORU made just seven shots in the second half as compared to the 12 they made in the first, with just two made shots in overtime. The Golden Eagles, and Glover especially, began the game hitting nine of their first 11 shot attempts. Glover, who finished with a team-high 26 for the Golden Eagles, hit his first seven shots and had 18 points at halftime, but was held to just eight on 1-of-8 from the field in the second.

Although Thomas and Smith combined for 51 of Nicholls' 73 points on the night, the Colonels got seven points from McBeath and Rillieux, and six from Carpenter who connected on two 3-pointers. Ja'Dante Frye was the only Nicholls player to score off of the bench, as ORU outscored the Colonels 19-2 in bench points.

It was a relatively clean game for both sides, as Nicholls turned the ball over just seven times to ORU's 11, earning 17 points off of those Golden Eagle miscues. Neither team was able to get a lot of putback shots, combining for just 10 total, but where Nicholls really found its edge was in the paint as they outscored Oral Roberts 32-18 in scores in the lane, earning 24 in the second period.

The Colonels will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Central Arkansas Bears at 3:30 p.m.