THIBODAUX, La. – After surrendering a first-half lead for a third straight game, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team dug deep and fought back, finishing on a 9-0 run to steal a 61-57 victory over Houston Baptist on Tuesday night in Stopher Gym.
The Colonels (4-9, 1-2 SLC) played without their leading scorer,
Amin Torres, who was suspended for undisclosed reasons. Starting point guard
Richie Lewis suited up but did not enter the game. Absent their two floor generals, Nicholls united as a team with six players scoring five or more points. Freshman
Quinton Thomas led the way with a breakout game as the team earned its first conference win of the season.
The Huskies (6-8, 2-2 SLC) gave the Colonels all they could handle in the second half but could not stifle a Nicholls squad playing its most complete and most spirited performance of the year.
Liam Thomas jump-started the Colonel offense, scoring the first seven points of the game as Nicholls took a 7-0 lead out of the gate. With 11 minutes remaining in the half, Q. Thomas drilled a three-pointer that gave the Colonels their largest advantage of the night at 12 points. After trading baskets, Nicholls maintained 9-point lead before Houston Baptist used an 8-0 run to pull within a point. The Colonels responded with a 5-0 run of their own before an Anthony Odunsi layup brought the score to 31-27 with 37 seconds remaining in the period. Head Coach
J.P. Piper called a timeout to draw up a final play. Out of the timeout, Q. Thomas ran around a screen and snuck down the right side of the baseline as
T.J. Carpenter lofted a pass over the defense. Thomas soared through the air, catching the pass and finishing with a powerful dunk over multiple Husky defenders.
Both teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half before Tyler Russell made a shot from beyond the arc to pull Houston Baptist within a point at 45-44. With 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Marcel Smith connected on a free throw, tying the game at 47. Smith sank a layup before a Tyler Russell free throw gave the Huskies a three-point advantage. Two minutes later,
Luka Kamber nailed a shot from three-point range to tie the game at 50. After hitting a jumper and sinking three shots from the charity stripe, Houston Baptist took a its largest lead of the night at 57-52 with 4:35 remaining. Only seconds later,
Sam McBeath found
Travis Julien for a monstrous dunk, reigniting the squad and sparking a 9-0 run to finish the game. McBeath sank two free throws before stealing a pass from Josh Ibarra and finishing with a layup on the other end as the Colonels regained the lead 58-57. After a missed layup from the Huskies, Q. Thomas put a punctuation mark on the night as he pulled up and drilled a fade-away jumper at the top of the key to give Nicholls a 60-57 lead with 40 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Odunsi pulled up for a jumper but was emphatically rejected by Q. Thomas, who was then fouled with three seconds remaining. Thomas missed his first free throw but was true on the second to seal the victory.
The Colonels shot 45.8 percent from the floor, 33.3 percent from three-point land and 72.2 percent at the charity stripe. Nicholls held Houston Baptist to 43.9 percent from the floor and just 1-9 beyond the arc. The Huskies also shot only 37.5 percent at the free throw line.
Q. Thomas led the Colonels with career-highs in points (18) and blocks (3). McBeath paced the team with five rebounds and Carpenter finished with a team-high five assists. L. Thomas and Julien each finished with three blocks.
Odunsi commanded the offensive attack for Houston Baptist with 13 points and a team-leading three assists. Colter Lasher had team-highs in both points (14) and rebounds (seven).
Nicholls will host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Sam Houston at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20 in Stopher Gym. Both matchups will be broadcast live on KQKI 95.3 FM.
Visit geauxcolonels.com for live stats and the most up-to-date information on Nicholls men's basketball.
