Latrell Jones - Nicholls MBB
Jared Shanklin
86
Winner Nicholls St. NichSt 20-10,10-3 Southland
75
A&M-Corpus Christi TA&MCC 19-11,6-7 Southland
Winner
Nicholls St. NichSt
20-10,10-3 Southland
86
Final
75
A&M-Corpus Christi TA&MCC
19-11,6-7 Southland
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Nicholls St. NichSt 36 50 86
A&M-Corpus Christi TA&MCC 38 37 75

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Colonels win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to set up title finale

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A strong second half aided by a decisive 12-0 run by the Nicholls State University men's basketball team led to an 86-75 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday night at American Bank Center.

With the win, Nicholls (20-10, 10-3 SLC) sets up a winner-take-all matchup against New Orleans for the Southland Conference regular season title on Saturday at Stopher Gym. The defending champion Colonels are aiming for their third championship in the last five years. It was also the 20th overall victory for the second time in the last three seasons under fourth-year head coach Austin Claunch. The exception was last year's 18-win season where the Colonels only played 25 games.

But the third win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (19-11, 6-7 SLC) this season did not come easy. Nicholls trailed by as much as 11 points in the first half before catching fire in the second, putting up a 50-point effort behind a staggering 62 percent from the field.  The Colonels had a balanced night on offense as five players scored in double figures, led by the Southland's leading scorer Ty Gordon with a game-high 21. Latrell Jones posted 19 points on 8 of 11 from the field, Devante Carter added 15 points and a team-high seven assists while Ryghe Lyons and Pierce Spencer had 12 points each. Manny Littles chipped in with seven points and six rebounds.

Despite the early struggles in the first half, Nicholls briefly took the lead early in the second before falling behind by nine points after a Trevian Tennyson 3-pointer gave the Islanders a 55-46 advantage. But Colonels answered with an 8-0 run with Jones and Littles canning back-to-back 3-pointers.

The decisive spurt came with seven minutes remaining and the Colonels trailing, 67-64. Jones started it with a jumper and after a pair of Lyons free throws, Jones had a steal that resulted in a Gordon layup. Gordon then drove the baseline and dished out a nice pass underneath to Lyons, who slammed it home and forced the Islanders to call a timeout. Gordon scored 15 of his 21 in the second half and dished out six assists for the game. 
 

After the timeout, Jones added a putback before Gordon sliced through the defense for a layup to end the scoring run with four minutes to go. Trailing 76-67, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi scored to bring the deficit down to seven but never got any closer. 

Nicholls shot 54 percent from the field and made 10 of 27 from 3-point range. The Colonels also drained 10 of 12 at the free throw line, shooting at their second-highest percentage of the season (83.3). 

The Islanders finished at 48 percent shooting and had four players score in double figures. De'Lazarus Keys paced AMCC with 17 points.

UP NEXT
Nicholls will host New Orleans for a de facto championship game at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 5. The game will air on ESPN+ with the winner to be crowed outright Southland Conference regular season champions. 
 



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