NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team held its own against conference-leader Stephen F. Austin, but the Luberjacks pulled away in the second half, taking a 86-71 victory on Saturday night.
The Colonels (7-16, 4-9 SLC) battled through a back-and-forth opening half, and took a three-point lead over SFA (22-4, 12-1 SLC) with 7:55 remaining in the period after a
Richie Lewis layup. On the next play the Lumberjacks tied the game with a Trey Pinkney three-pointer and pushed their advantage to 11-points on a Demetrious Floyd layup just before halftime.
Nicholls cut the SFA lead to nine after a
Liam Thomas layup two minutes into the second frame, but the deficit ballooned to 15 at the 16:22 mark. With six minutes remaining in the game, Jacob Parker drilled a shot from beyond the arc to put the Lumberjacks up by 22. The Colonels chipped away at the lead over the remaining minutes, but were unable to claw their way back.
Nicholls shot 50 percent from the floor, 45.5 percent from three-point range and 75 percent at the free throw line in one of the best shooting nights for the team this year. Turnovers had a huge impact on the game as SFA recorded 31 points off of 19 Colonel turnovers on the night.
Lewis led Nicholls on the offensive end with 13 points and a career-high six assists.
Sam McBeath grabbed a team-high five rebounds and added 11 points in the loss.
Ja'Dante' Frye and
T.J. Carpenter contributed 13 points and 12 points respectively.
Clide Geffrard spearheaded the offensive attack for the Lumberjacks with 20 points and three assists, both team-highs. Thomas Walkup grabbed a team-leading seven boards and added 13 points, while Jacob Parker chipped in 20 points on the night.
The Colonels will host Northwestern State at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, before heading to Lake Charles for a 3 p.m. showdown with McNeese State on Saturday. Both games 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.
