THIBODAUX – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team held the lead over rival Northwestern State for all but two minutes of the game, but a jumper with 4.9 seconds left put the visiting Demons on top and Thursday's hero, Jahvaughn Powell, was unable to duplicate his heroics as his 3-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, giving the Demons an 80-78 victory Saturday night at Stopher Gym.
 
Travon Joseph's jumper in the final seconds gave NSU only its second lead of the game, both coming in the final two-plus minutes of regulation. The Colonels called a timeout and went to Powell, whose 3-pointer at the end of regulation sent Thursday's win over Central Arkansas into overtime, but his shot was contested on the right wing and fell short.
 
Including Powell, four Colonels finished in double figures, led by a game-high 20 points from Stevie Repichowski.  Liam Thomas had 18 points and Ja'Dante' Frye came off the bench for 18. Powell recorded his second straight double-double with 11 assists, but had a tough shooting night at 3 of 12.
 
After making 56 percent from the field in the first half, the shots were not falling in the second for Nicholls. The hot-shooting propelled the Colonels to a 10-0 lead to start the game and they were up by as much as 13. Nicholls led 48-37 at the break, but connected on less than 30 percent from the field after the intermission.
 
Despite the poor shooting in the second half, Nicholls did not surrender the lead until Jziahiah Sweeney (11 points) scored for a 76-75 advantage with 2:12 to go.
 
Repichowski was then fouled on a 3-pointer and converted all three attempts to put Nicholls up two. Following a layup by Ishmael Lane (17 points, 13 rebounds) that tied the game with a minute remaining, Thomas was fouled on an offensive rebound, but missed the front end of the bonus.
 
With the game tied, NSU elected to use the entire shot clock before Joseph's bucket proved to be the game-winner.
 
Thomas finished a rebound short of a double-double and tacked on three blocks to his nation-leading total. Thomas, Repichowski – who had five 3-pointers, and Frye each shot 50 percent or better from the field.
 
UP NEXT
 
Nicholls will hit the road for its next game, taking on UIW in San Antonio Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.