THIBODAUX, La. - An eight-minute scoring drought in the first half was not enough to spoil Senior Day for the Nicholls State University men's basketball team as the Colonels rallied for a 68-64 victory over Houston Christian Saturday afternoon on Broussard Court at Stopher Gymnasium.
The Colonels honored four members of their senior class before the game, one being
Caleb Huffman who finished with a team-high 23 points. Nicholls (15-14, 10-7 SLC) had just 22 points at the half but Huffman fueled a high-scoring second period with 19 following the break. Classmate
Latrell Jones also had a big second half, netting 13 of his 18 points.
Huffman's second 3-pointer of the half gave Nicholls a 54-53 lead, capping an 18-5 run for the Colonels. The lead then swapped nine times the rest of the way.
Trailing 62-60 with less than three minutes remaining, Huffman put Nicholls back on top with another 3-pointer. HCU regained the lead on a pair of free throws by Zach Iyeyemi, but once again, Huffman answered with his fifth 3-pointer for a 66-64 advantage.
After Nicholls added a
Lance-Amir Paul free throw in the final minute, HCU's Pierce Bazil put up an off-balanced 3-pointer with the clock winding down, but was off the mark. Jones was fouled on the rebound with 0.7 seconds and sealed the game win a free throw. It was his 10th rebound of day, giving him his second double-double of the season.
With the win, Nicholls secured a winning record in league play for the fourth straight year and earned a series sweep over the Huskies. The win was also the eighth straight in the series against HCU. The Colonels also stayed in contention for a first-round bye in the Southland Conference Tournament.
For the Huskies, Maks Klanjscek scored a game-high 25 points and matched Huffman with five made 3-pointers. HCU had 11 3-pointers at a 34 percent clip but also shot just 36 percent from the field.
Nicholls finished at 47 percent from the field thanks in part to a 17 of 27 showing in the second half. The Colonels had nine field goals in the opening period and was 1 of 12 from 3-point range, finishing at 29 percent for the day. Nicholls also had a tough time at the free throw line, making 10 of 23.
Despite the long scoring drought later in the half, Nicholls raced out 12-3 advantage through the opening five minutes. But the Colonels would not score again until the 6:22 mark as HCU accounted for 17 straight points. The Huskies went into the half with a 34-22 lead.
The second-half comeback was helped by a 21-5 advantage in points-off-turnovers. Ranking in the top 10 of the NCAA in turnovers forced, Nicholls forced HCU into 20 turnovers and the Huskies had 19 in the previous matchup.
Huffman accounted for five of the Colonels' 11 steals and senior
Edoardo Del Cadia added two to go along with his 11 points.
UP NEXT
Nicholls wraps up the regular season with a home contest against Lamar on Wednesday, March 1. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
