KATY, Texas -- Despite a late surge cutting the halftime deficit to a reasonable five points, the Nicholls State University men's basketball program (18-7, 14-2 SLC) struggled to consistently build any momentum as a ball-hawking defensive effort out of Abilene Christian (23-4, 13-2 SLC) contained the usually potent Red & Gray attack, eventually dropping a 79-45 decision to the Wildcats in the 2021 Southland Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday evening at Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

After ACU bolted out to a lead as large as 18 points through the first 14 minutes of the play, the Colonels finally managed to gather themselves as the opening period came to a close, closing the gap to within five behind a 17-4 run. Notably, seniors Ty Gordon and Kevin Johnson served, per the usual, as the linchpins of the rally attempt, contributing a combined 15 points with a joint three triples -- including back-to-back daggers from Gordon -- as the Red & Gray worked back into the contest.

Following the midway break, however, the Wildcats quietly found their rhythm again on the defensive end, holding the Red & Gray to just 14 second-half points en route to the program's second league tournament title in as many attempts.

KEY STORYLINES & STATISTICS
-- For the night, Nicholls finished shooting 29.7 percent (19-of-64) from the floor, 14.8 percent (4-of-27) from long range and 27.3 percent (3-of-11) at the charity stripe.
-- Individually, senior Ty Gordon closed out the contest with a team-high 16 points after working primarily in the background during Friday night's semifinals victory over No. 4 Northwestern State, dishing out a squad-high five assists as well while swiping a trio of steals.
-- Fellow senior Kevin Johnson composed the Red & Gray's only other double-digit performance, racking up 11 points while also pulling down a team-best seven boards. Of specific note, however, the local Thibodaux product snapped a pair of all-time program records during the contest, securing two steals en route to officially locking down the top spot for the category -- entered the matchup tied with James Banks (1996-00) at 247 -- in addition to logging 37 total minutes as the four-year starter passed Anatoly Bose (3,763 minutes, 2007-11) for the notable honor of "longest tenured Colonel" on the hardwood (3,792 career minutes).

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