THIBODAUX, La.  – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team will begin its final week at home with a Thursday night matchup against Abilene Christian in the teams' first ever meeting. Tipoff at Stopher Gym is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM, with a live video stream available on Colonels All-Access. Pregame coverage is scheduled to start at 7:15.

Nicholls (11-12, 8-6) got out of its mini slump by sweeping McNeese State after a 68-59 victory last Saturday. Although the Colonels had lost four in a row, three of the four contests came down to the final minutes; however, in the win over the Cowboys, the game was never really much in doubt as Nicholls held the advantage for the final 35 minutes, leading by at least five points and as much as 14 during the span.

Despite the Colonels' leading scorer, Dantrell Thomas (16.1 ppg), only taking four shots for six points, Nicholls had a complete team effort in the win over rival McNeese, getting contributions from every player who had significant minutes. For the starters, sophomore T.J. Carpenter led the way in scoring with 19 points – one shy of his season high – and added four rebounds and four assists.  Jeremy Smith had 13 points, Liam Thomas had three blocks, and Shane Rillieux tacked on five points, five assists and seven rebounds.

Off the bench, the Colonels received a huge boost from underclassmen Amin Torres, Luke Doyle and Ja'Dante' Frye. Torres scored nine points in the win, Doyle had eight including two key 3-pointers, and although he did not have a field goal attempt, Frye hauled in four rebounds.

Abilene Christian (11-17, 2-9) heads to Thibodaux with a three-game winning streak, all coming out of conference. The Wildcats, who are ineligible for postseason play due to their transition to Division I, had lost six of seven before their blowout wins over Dallas Christian, Arlington Baptist and Southwestern Adventist.
  
In ACU's 124-57 win over Southwest Adventist, an NAIA Division II school, the Wildcats sank 21 3-pointers to tie the Southland single-game record held by Nicholls (vs. A&M-Corpus Christi, 2007). Julian Edmonson was responsible for eight buckets from long range as he poured in 33 points. Parker Wentz made six 3-pointers, scoring 24 points.

Parker leads the team in scoring at 13.2 points per game. LaDarrien Williams and Harrison Hawkins are second with 12.3 ppg, and Edmonson upped his average to 10.9.

Following Thursday's game, Nicholls will close out its home scheduled on Saturday against Incarnate Word. Before the game, the Colonels will recognize their 2014 senior class – Pedro Maciel, Jeremy Smith and Dantrell Thomas.