THIBODAUX, La. - After leading the Nicholls State University men's basketball team to a pair of overtime victories on the road, forward Diante Smith has been named Southland Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Men's Basketball Player of the Week. 

The SLC award is the second for Smith this month. He is the first Colonel to garner an LSWA honor this season.

In his debut season with the Colonels, Smith displayed late-game heroics once again by making clutch shot after clutch shot in the Colonels' wins at UIW and Texas A&M-Commerce. Smith scored 20 points at UIW capped by consecutive putbacks in overtime and the go-ahead bucket with 1:44 remaining in the eventual 78-74 victory. On Saturday against A&M-Commerce, he hit the game-tying three-pointer with 30 seconds to go to force overtime, then delivered another three with a second left to send the game into double OT. Smith finished with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double while making 5 of 8 from behind the arc.

For the week, Smith averaged 24.5 points on 52 percent shooting while adding 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals. He currently leads the Colonels in scoring in conference play at 17.3 points per game.

UP NEXT
Nicholls returns home for six of its next eight games, starting Saturday, Feb. 3 against HCU. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.