SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. - Playing for the title in the Sand Bracket of the SoCal Challenge, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team went scoreless for the first seven minutes of the game against Utah Valley and the deficit proved to be too much to overcome, as the Colonels dropped a 74-63 contest Wednesday afternoon at the JSerra Pavilion.
With the outcome, Nicholls slipped to 4-3 overall while Utah Valley improved to 5-1.
Not only were the Colonels ice cold on offense, but the Wolverines were red hot early and raced out to a 16-0 advantage.
Devante Carter, who led Nicholls with a game-high 17 points, ended the drought with a bucket before UVA answered with another 11-0 spurt for a dominating 27-2 lead.
Caleb Huffman sparked the Colonel offense with three 3-pointers before the break; however, Utah Valley led 44-22 after 20 minutes.
Despite facing a huge deficit, Nicholls fought back with a 9-0 run to start the second half.
Ty Gordon hit one from long range while Carter, Huffman, and
Ryghe Lyons added a field goal each. The 3-ball was the lone basket for Gordon who had an off night shooting, finishing 1 of 15 overall and 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
Nicholls eventually made it a nine-point game at 53-44 on a
Latrell Jones 3-pointer with 10 minutes to go. But a Gordon foul led to three free throws by Utah Valley to push to deficit back to 12 and the lead stayed in double digits for the rest of the game.
Carter had another strong outing, shooting 6 of 13 from the field to lead a trio of Colonels in double figures. Huffman finished with 13 points while Jones added 12.
Emmanuel Little led the team with 10 rebounds.
Utah Valley had six players scored in double figures, paced by Connor Harding and Blaze Nield with 13 apiece. Fardaws Aimaq had a big game inside with 10 points and 18 rebounds. The Wolverines outrebounded the Colonels in the win, 45-36.
ALL TOURNAMENT
Carter and Gordon represented the Colonels on the Sand Division All-Tournament Team. Utah Valley's Harding and Aimaq, who was named MVP, along with Cal Poly's Kyle Colvin rounded out the team.
UP NEXT
Nicholls returns home on Saturday, Nov. 27 to host Southwestern Christian at 1:30 p.m.
