THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team capitalized on an inspired group performance and led by as many as 16 points en route to a 70-59 victory over McNeese State on Saturday night in Stopher Gym.
 
The Colonels (7-13, 4-6 SLC) scored the opening points of the contest before trading baskets with the Cowboys (9-12, 3-7 SLC) over the first eight minutes of play. After a dunk by Travis Julien, Nicholls pushed their lead to five at the 11:24 mark. McNeese responded and tied the game after a Shaun Johnson layup with 7:57 remaining in the half. The Colonels punched back with an 8-0 run, punctuated by an explosive alley-oop dunk by Quinton Thomas off of a feed from Zach Young. The Cowboys answered with an 11-0 run of their own over the final 2:28 of the frame, taking a 27-24 lead at halftime.
 
Out of the break a T.J. Carpenter triple ignited a 14-0 explosion over the opening 3:19 of the second period. Ja'Dante' Frye put a punctuation mark on the run with a monster dunk in transition, assisted by Young. With 13:44 remaining in the contest, Luka Kamber connected on a shot from beyond the arc to put the Colonels up 47-31. McNeese lived at the charity stripe for the majority of the second frame and pulled within six points after a pair of Desharick Guidry free throws at the 4:04 mark; but the Cowboys would come no closer as Nicholls played keep-away and padded their lead over the final minutes.
 
The Colonels shot 51.9 percent from the floor and 75 percent at the free throw line to finish 10 points over their season average of 59.9 points per game in conference play. Nicholls held McNeese to just 31.7 percent from the floor and 26.3 percent from three-point range. The Colonels dominated points in the paint (38-26) and finished with more bench points (23-13), assists (20-10), blocks (8-3) and points off turnovers (16-14) than the Cowboys.
 
Frye led Nicholls, scoring 13 of his career-high 19 points in the second half. He also added four rebounds and a career-high three steals in the win. Sam McBeath filled the stat sheet with a team-high six rebounds to go along with four points, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Liam Thomas finished with 12 points, five boards and a team-leading three blocks on the night. Young, who played only 17 minutes due to an injury early in the second period, dished out a career-high six assists to lead the team.
 
Kevin Hardy spearheaded McNeese offensive attack, scoring 21 points in the loss. Guidry finished with team-highs in rebounds (13) and assists (three) to go along with 11 points.
 
Nicholls will travel to San Antonio for a 7 p.m. matchup with Incarnate Word on Tuesday before returning home to face Southeastern La. at 3:30 p.m. on Valentine's Day in Stopher Gym. 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.