THIBODAUX, La. - After battling to a tie at the break against Northwestern State, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team jumped out to an eight-point lead early in the second half and never trailed the rest of the night en route to a 73-66 victory Monday night on Broussard Court at Stopher Gymnasium.
Nicholls (12-10, 7-2 SLC) pushed its winning streak to four games while improving to 7-1 at home this season. The Demons slipped to 6-17 overall and 4-6 in the Southland, dropping their fourth out of their last five games.
Jamal West Jr. and
Michael Gray Jr. each scored a team-high 17 points in the win, while
Diante Smith totaled 16 points and
Byron Ireland added 11. Smith shined early on offense with 14 points in the opening half, helping the Colonels extinguish a piping-hot shooting performance by the visitors.
Cliff Davis, who had a game-high 25 points, drained 5 of 6 from three-point range as NSU led by as much as nine before halftime. But Smith took over during the next 2:30, converting two basket-and-ones, hitting two three-pointers -- the last giving the Colonels a 33-30 edge -- and had a steal before assisting on a West layup. Davis made another triple to give Northwestern State the lead back briefly but Gray sank two free throws before the intermission to tie it at 35.
Jalen White started the scoring in the second half with a three-pointer, then a key sequence pushed the Colonel lead to six. Leading by one, Ireland sliced through the defense for a layup and after Gray picked up a steal, Ireland sank another three-ball for the Colonels.
Then with less than nine minutes remaining, Gray had his time to shine on the offensive end. He scored back-to-back buckets inside before nailing a three-pointer for his own personal 7-0 run which gave Nicholls a 67-54 lead.
Northwestern State refused to go away quietly, however, and had a chance to make it a one-possession game with a minute to go but misfired on a three-pointer. Smith then closed out the scoring for the Colonels with a pair of free throws.
Nicholls shot 47 percent for the game and connected on 9 of 20 from behind the arc. But the team struggled at the free throw for the second straight outing, making just over 60 percent. Prior to the last two outings, the Colonels had made less than 70 percent at the stripe just one time in nine games.
After allowing NSU to make 6 of 9 from long range in the first half, Nicholls held the Demons to 4 of 12 in the second. The Colonels entered the matchup with the league's top three-point percentage defense.
West did not leave the floor, playing all 40 minutes as he filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Gray chipped in with three steals and Smith added two.
UP NEXT
Nicholls will head to Beaumont on Saturday, Feb. 10 with hopes of avenging its lone home loss -- an overtime setback against Lamar. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
