NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball squad hoisted the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Championship trophy Wednesday night for the first time since 1998, prevailing 73-70 over Northwestern State University at Prather Coliseum.

"What a night for our program," Nicholls head coach Richie Riley said. "I'm so happy for our guys and our community. We handled adversity the last six minutes as well as any team I've been around. When 'Boog' [Tevon Saddler] went down, there was not a dry eye in the huddle. Our guys responded and found a way to finish for him."

The Colonels (21-9, 15-2 SLC) picked up their 15^th league win, the most since that 1998 campaign, the last time Nicholls made an NCAA appearance. Northwestern State fell to 4-24 and 1-16 in the SLC.

The Colonels received a game-high 32 points from senior guard Roddy Peters. Peters shot 9-12 from the field and 14-20 from the charity stripe and contributed a game-high four assists. Senior guard Jahvaughn Powell followed with 13 points and continued his defensive dominance with four steals. Saddler, the team's second-highest scorer, poured in 12 points before exiting the game.

Nicholls tied the score twice in the first half but was never able to grab the lead. Peters headed to the bench at the 2:36 mark with 15 points and three fouls in 11 minutes.

The Colonels saw their first advantage at 40-38 when Saddler knocked down a jumper in the midst of a 7-0 run. A dunk followed by a 3-pointer from Demons big man Ishmael Lane (11 points) gave Northwestern State a 68-66 edge with 2:03 left on the clock. Nicholls responded by scoring seven of the next nine points, all on Peters' account.
 

This was delivered to us after the game. It's not over. Only the paranoid survive!  #GeauxColonels #BurnTheBoats pic.twitter.com/KwSOaPeeAY

— Nicholls MBB (@Nicholls_MBB) March 1, 2018

The Colonels travel to Southeastern Louisiana Saturday in the regular-season finale. The game is slated to tip at 5:05 p.m. and the winner will take the No. 1 seed into the SLC Tournament.

Get your season or single game tickets now by calling 985-448-4790 or visiting nichollstickets.com. To stay up to date with Nicholls men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter @Nicholls_MBB.