CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Fueled by a tremendous defensive effort, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team picked up a season-opening 62-58 victory at Northern Iowa on Tuesday night at the McLeod Center.
 
Nicholls (1-0) limited UNI (0-1) to 30 percent from the field while shooting 49 percent in the win. The lone blemish for the Colonels, which improved to 3-1 in openers under head coach Austin Claunch, was a 7-for-18 night at the free throw line that allowed the Panthers to make a late comeback. 
 
Reigning Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year Ty Gordon was the star on offense, scoring 19 points on 9 of 17 shooting. With Nicholls nursing a 46-44 lead with less than seven minutes remaining, Gordon scored 11 consecutive points to put Nicholls ahead for good. He canned his lone 3-pointer during the stretch and his last bucket resulted in the largest lead of the night, 57-44, at the 2:52 mark.
 
UNI had one last run and eventually brought the deficit to 59-57 with 30 seconds on the clock. Nicholls missed two front-ends on 1-and-1s and then four more in a row to allow the Panthers to hang around. But Devante Carter, who also scored in double figures with 12, iced the victory with two free throws. While Nicholls shot 7 of 18 on the night, Carter was a perfect 6-for-6. 
 
Caleb Huffman finished with nine points off the bench and had a few key buckets in the first half as the teams went into the break tied at 29. Defensively, Pierce Spencer had a team-high 11 rebounds and helped hold MVC Preseason Player of the Year A.J. Green to 1 of 14 from the field. 

Austin Phyfe led all scorers with 20 points and added nine rebounds for UNI.
 
UP NEXT
Nicholls returns to Thibodaux for its 2021-22 debut, taking on Carver College on back-to-back days. Friday's game (Nov. 12) is scheduled for 7 p.m. while Saturday's will tipoff at noon.