KATY, Texas - The Nicholls State University men's basketball team fell behind against Southeastern by double figures early in the first half, and despite making it a one-possession game several times, the Colonels were never able to regain the lead as the Lions claimed a 77-72 victory to win the Southland Tip-Off Event Saturday night in the Merrell Center.
Nicholls (10-7) only led 2-0 and found itself quickly down by 10 points as SLU (7-9) made four 3-pointers for a 15-5 advantage. The Colonels trimmed the deficit to 34-32 at the break but the Lions went on to snap a five-game skid in the series.
With the Southland's leading scorer
Ty Gordon still sidelined,
Latrell Jones stepped up with a game-high 23 points on 10 of 18 from the field. In the three games, the New Orleans native averaged 17.7 points on 58 percent shooting. He was joined in double figures by
Devante Carter with 18 points and
Ryghe Lyons chipped in with 13. Carter dished out a team-high eight assists and was named to the all-tournament team.
Southeastern was paced by all-tourney selection Ryan Burkhardt, who hit six 3-pointers and finished with 20 points. SLU connected on 11 buckets from long range while Nicholls made eight 3-pointers. The Colonels struggled from deep in the first half knocking down only 3 of 16. One came right before the halftime buzzer as Carter found
Pierce Spencer in the corner for the triple.
Early in the second half, every time Nicholls threatened to take the lead, Southeastern answered with a 3-pointer. Carter hit a tough jumper to tie the game at 34 before Gus Okafor sank one from downtown. After
Mekhi Collins scored inside, Keon Clergeot followed with a 3-ball. Then Jones made a layup to make it 42-40 and SLU countered with another Burkhardt 3-pointer.
Nicholls kept it close until SLU pushed its advantage back to double figures at 67-56 on a Jalyn Hinton layup with three minutes to go. The Colonels hit four 3-pointers the rest of the way, including two by Lyons, but the Lions stayed ahead by making 8 of 10 at the free throw line to eventually close it out.
For the Lions, Clergeot finished with 19 points while Okafor had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Devante Carter - Nicholls
Gus Okafor - Southeastern
Ryan Burkhardt - Southeastern
Isaac Mushila - Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Derek St. Hilaire - New Orleans
