THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team hits the road for the first time this month, opening a two-game Southland Conference road trip with the Lamar Cardinals on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Montagne Center in Beaumont.
 
The Colonel Countdown pregame show will begin 15 minutes prior to tip off against the Colonels and Cardinals on the all-new ESPN 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM locally in Thibodaux. Links to live video and stats provided by Lamar will be on the home page at GeauxColonels.com.
 
After starting the year with four consecutive losses, the Colonels have rebounded in a big way to claim five of their last seven to sit at 5-6 overall on the year and 2-0 in league play for the first time since the 2005-06 season. A lot of that success is due in part to the team's stellar play at home, as the Colonels improved to 4-0 at home this season and will look to better its road record with two league opponents this weekend.
 
After one weekend of conference play, Nicholls is one of only four teams that remain undefeated along with Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and McNeese State, earning thrilling victories over New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana last Thursday and Saturday. The five-point win over the Privateers and three-point win over the Lions were the third and fourth wins by the team this year that were by seven points or less. Since 2008, the Colonels have claimed 21 contests decided by five points or less.
 
The thrilling win over the Lions that featured counterpunch after counterpunch in the final five minutes of the game was also another milestone win for head coach J.P. Piper, as he moved into sole possession of third place in all-time coaching victories at Nicholls with his 102nd, one ahead of Gordon Stauffer.
 
Against Southeastern, Nicholls once again showed its penchant for not creating opportunities for opposing teams due to miscues, as the nine turnovers the team had against SLU is the third time this season the squad has committed less than 10 in a full contest. With only 137 on the year as a group, the Colonels are 22^nd in the nation in fewest turnovers, 23 fewer than the next closest team in the Southland in SFA.
 
For as much as his scoring has been the hot talk as of late, the overall play of senior guard Dantrell Thomas is starting to blossom as he earned his third 20-point game of the season against SLU with 21 points on 6-of-10 from the field and 9-of-11 at the free throw line.
 
The Many, La., native earned a key steal and assist to Jeremy Smith on a layup in the final minute to give Nicholls a three-point cushion to hold on for the win late. Already leading the team in steals with 20, Thomas is seventh in the conference averaging 1.8 steals per game and after his first two league games is seventh in assists and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio. This goes along with his 15.8 points per game average which is ninth in the league and 53.9 field goal percentage with his seventh in the league and 72^nd in the country.
 
His senior counterpart in Smith had 12 points and earned his eighth double-digit scoring game of the season, eclipsing his mark of seven last year. He is currently in the top 20 in scoring and field goal percentage in the Southland.
 
Sophomore T.J. Carpenter earned his second consecutive start over the weekend and chipped in 10 points with a season high five rebounds against Southeastern La. Two of his five made shots came from distance, as his 2.4 three's per game average is third in the Southland, as he's made at least two 3-pointers in a game seven times so far this year.
 
In his last three games, freshman big man Liam Thomas has begun to find his around the basket defensively, blocking six total shots and currently has a 1.2 blocks per game average and is in the top ten in the league in that category.
 
While the Colonels seem to be on the uptick, the Lamar Cardinals are in the midst of a 10-game losing streak dating back to November, entering the weekend 1-13 on the year after dropping both Southland conference games to SFA and Northwestern State last week. The Cardinals' only win of the season came against Savannah State, 75-66, as the team has yet to win a game at home or on the road.
 
Leading scorer Nimrod Hillard is one of the only bright spots for Lamar this season, as he scored a season-high 29 points with eight assists against the Demons on Saturday and averages 16.4 points per game.
 
Nicholls swept both meetings against the Cardinals last season, winners of three of the last four and six of the last eight dating back to the 2009 season.
 
 
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
TV: None
Radio: ESPN 100.3 FM, KLEB 1600 AM
Broadcast Team: Mike Wagenheim (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.LamarCardinals.com