THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team dominated the first half of play, but injuries and turnovers allowed Central Arkansas to make things interesting over the final minutes before the Colonels secured a 77-70 victory on Senior Night in Stopher Gym.
 
Nicholls (9-18, 6-11 SLC) controlled the first half, led by Sam McBeath who scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds. The Bears (2-26, 5-15 SLC) had no answers for the Colonels, shooting an abysmal 28.6 percent from the floor and 12.5 percent from three-point range. In sharp contrast, Nicholls shot a blazing 66.7 percent from the floor, 62.5 percent from beyond the arc and 77.8 percent at the free throw line. The Colonels also won the rebounding battle 18-11 in the period.
 
At the 10:57 mark in the second half Nicholls had its largest lead of the night at 18 points, but UCA clawed its way back. The Bears used a 9-1 run to cut the Colonels' advantage to 10 with 7:44 remaining in the game. Nicholls pushed its lead back to 15 after Ja'Dante' Frye knocked down two shots at the charity stripe and seemed to have the game locked up, but Central Arkansas would not surrender. The Bears chipped away at the lead and pulled within two points after Mike Martin was fouled on a three-point attempt and sank all three free throws. UCA was forced to intentionally foul and the Colonels knocked down six additional opportunities at the free throw line to seal the win.
 
Nicholls shot 55.3 percent from the floor, 53.8 percent from three-point range and 66.7 percent at the charity stripe overall. The Colonels finished with more points in the paint (28-22), more bench points (31-11), more rebounds (37-34), more assists (18-11) and more blocks (8-2) than the Bears. Nicholls survived despite committing 22 turnovers that resulted in 24 points for Central Arkansas.
 
Frye led the Colonels offensively with 16 points, while McBeath and Amin Torres contributed 15 apiece. McBeath also grabbed a team-high seven boards, despite missing the majority of the second period with an injury he sustained earlier in the contest. T.J. Carpenter followed up his career-high 28 points by dishing out six assists to lead the team. Carpenter also missed the majority of the second half after incurring an injury. Liam Thomas, who was also injured during the game, managed to lead Nicholls in blocks (two) despite playing just 12 minutes. The Colonels were without their starting point guard Richie Lewis, who suffered an injury in the final seconds of Monday's overtime victory at New Orleans.
 
Mathieu Kamba paced the Bears with 18 points, while Jordan Howard scored 16 and added two assists. Boo Milligan led the squad in both rebounds (six) and assists (four) in the loss.
 
Nicholls will travel to Hammond for the regular-season finale against Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. on Saturday, before heading to Katy for the Southland Conference Tournament. Saturday's game 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.