Thibodaux, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team closes a two-game home stand and the first half of Southland Conference play on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Central Arkansas Bears at 3:30 p.m. in Stopher Gym in Thibodaux.
 
The contest against the Bears will begin at 3:30 p.m. in Thibodaux, as fans can purchase their tickets online at NichollsTickets.com for $7. For fans unable to make the game, live stats and video will be provided at GeauxColonels.com and the Nicholls Athletics mobile apps, with the game being aired on the all-new ESPN 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM.
 
After a thrilling overtime contest on Thursday night, Nicholls will play in its final home game until the end of February on Saturday, as the squad will hit the road for four consecutive contests away from Thibodaux over the next two weeks. Nicholls will then close out the home portion of the schedule with three-straight in Thibodaux against McNeese State and newcomers Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word.
 
In one of the best atmospheres Stopher Gym has seen in quite some time, the Nicholls men's basketball team earned its first-ever win over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in dramatic fashion Thursday night, outscoring the visitors 39-33 in the second period to force overtime and hold on for the thrilling victory 73-72 to move to 9-8 overall and 6-2 in league play. Nicholls is above the .500 mark for the first time since the 2010-11 season, winners of six of their last eight games and 6-1 at home this season. With consecutive overtime games to its credit, Nicholls has matched a feat that has not been done since the 1977-78 season, with back-to-back extra-time games in the same season.
 
The Colonels have been one of the exciting teams to watch since before league play began, as the one-point win over ORU was the slimmest margin of victory for Nicholls over an opponent this season. Much of the season has been that way for the squad, sporting a 7-1 record in games decided by seven points or less this season, and 5-1 in games decided by five or fewer points. Of the team's six wins in January, the most wins in a month for the group this season, five have been by a combined 14 points.
 
Led by the stellar play as of late from their two senior starters, the Colonels have been pushed by the efforts of Dantrell Thomas and Jeremy Smith, who combined for 51 of Nicholls' 73 points against the Golden Eagles, while the starters accounted for all but two of the 73 as the bench has been outscored 49-5 over the course of the last two contests and have still found a way to win.
 
Thomas has looked every bit of the form that allowed him to be named a preseason second-team all-conference selection, as he scored career high 28 points on career best 15-of-18 from the free throw line. The senior was clutch when it counted most, making all four free throw attempts he took, including the final two to give Nicholls its final lead of the game in overtime. It was the 14^th 20-plus point game of his career, and fifth this year, as he's scored in double figures in each of his last three games to boost his season average to 16.3 points per game.
 
While Thomas was exact at the line, Smith nearly willed the entire team to victory in the second half, scoring consecutive buckets in a blow-for-blow few minutes between him and the Golden Eagles that kept the team in the hunt down the stretch. The New Orleans native scored 23 points and has now pieced together 20-plus point efforts in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, and is shooting a blistering 55.9 percent from the field in the process.
 
As has been the case the last handful of games, the starting group of Smith, Thomas, Shane Rillieux, Sam McBeath and T.J. Carpenter has proven to be the right mix of scoring and defense to keep teams at bay, as the Golden Eagles went from making 12 shots and shooting 52 percent from the field in the first half, to making just a combined nine in the second half and overtime. All three are scoring above their season averages in league play contests, seeing a majority of the minutes.
 
Central Arkansas comes into the game after getting a much-needed win over the McNeese State Cowboys on Thursday night in Lake Charles, 76-75. The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the Bears, as they are now 5-14 on the year and 2-6 in Southland play. UCA has used a makeshift lineup for a bit of the season, as they suited up just nine players against the Cowboys on Thursday, under the leadership of an interim head coach after former coach Corliss Williamson left to be an assistant in the NBA.
 
The Bears feature one of the best scorers in the league in LaQuentin Miles, who is averaging over 21.6 points per game in conference play, along with his 6.8 rebounds and 47 percent shooting clip from the floor.
 
Nicholls has won two of the last three meetings against the Bears, as they own the series with an 8-7 advantage in all-time meetings.
 
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
TV: None
Radio: ESPN 100.3 FM, KLEB 1600 AM
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.GeauxColonels.com