SAN ANTONIO, Texas - After shooting a blistering 73 percent in the first half, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team led for most of the game before UIW made three 3-pointers in the final minutes to hand the Colonels a 69-67 loss Saturday afternoon at the McDermott Center.
Nicholls (10-11, 5-4 SLC) led by nine several times throughout the game but could never get the lead to double figures. A
Marek Nelson steal and dunk put the Colonels ahead by seven with seven minutes remaining before UIW (10-12, 4-5 SLC) began its eventual comeback.
Jonathan Cisse hit the first key 3-pointer for the Cardinals for a 62-61 lead with less than three minutes remaining.
Caleb Huffman answered with a putback to push Nicholls back on top, but Josh Morgan answered on the next possession with another 3-pointer. Nicholls made a free throw to cut the deficit to one; however, Cisse sank the final UIW 3-pointer for a four-point lead with 28 seconds to go.
Nelson misfired on a layup and it resulted to one free throw for UIW. Down five,
Jalen White made a triple for the Colonels with five seconds remaining. UIW then missed on the front end of the bonus but Nicholls was unable to get off a final shot.
Nelson had a breakout game for the Colonels, finishing with a season-high 24 points on 10 of 15 from the field. He also had 11 rebounds for his second career double-double. Huffman was the only other Colonel to score in double figures with 13. White continued his hot shooting, adding nine points on 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
Nelson was a perfect 6 for 6 in the opening half as Nicholls made 16 of 22 from the field. But UIW kept things from getting out of hand by making 14 of 16 from the free throw line to trail 36-31 at the break.
Nicholls led for the entire second half until Cisse's 3-pointer at the 2:45 mark. The Cardinals made 5 of 9 from 3-point range after the intermission to spark the comeback.
Cisse and Jonathan Miller each scored 16 points for UIW while Morgan was 4 for 4 from 3-point range and added 14 points off the bench.
The Colonels had won four straight against UIW and eight of the last nine. The loss also dropped the Colonels to 2-10 on the road. The win was the fourth consecutive for UIW after starting 0-5 in conference.
UP NEXT
Nicholls returns to Thibodaux for a Thursday (Feb. 2) matchup against Texas A&M-Commerce. Tipoff at Stopher Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m.
