LAKE CHARLES, La. - Another outstanding effort on the defensive end propelled the Nicholls State University men's basketball team to a 72-51 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Southland Conference Tournament Monday night inside the Legacy Center. 

With the win, Nicholls (19-13) advances tot he semifinals to face No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

For the third straight game, the Colonel defense stifled the opposition by holding the Lions (13-20) to 32 percent shooting. The 51 points also matched A&M-Commerce's lowest scoring output against a league opponent this season. 

Nicholls was firing on all cylinders on the offensive end as well, shooting its second highest percent at 56 percent. Three of the Colonels' top four shooting games this season came in the three wins against the Lions.

Robert Brown III continued to scorch the nets from behind the arc, hitting 5 of 6 from three-point range to lead Nicholls with 18 points. Diante Smith made 2 of 3 from deep and totaled 14 points while Quinn Strander scored a career-high 11 points on 4 of 4 from the field while adding five assists and two steals. 

The Colonels wasted no time in setting the tone, racing out to a 7-0 lead which included Brown's first triple of the night. After the Lions came within one at 11-10, a Mekhi Collins dunk sparked a 10-0 run which included threes by Brown and Smith. 

Nicholls led by as much as 16 in the opening half before going into the break with a 34-21 lead. The Colonels made 5 of 7 from behind the arc while holding the Lions to 4 of 15.

Coming out of the intermission, Texas A&M-Commerce got a three by Khaliq Abdul-Mateen to trim the deficit to 10 but Nicholls answered right away by scoring the next 13 points. The lead was never fewer than 16 points the rest of the way as the Colonels knocked off the Lions for the third time.

With the large gap in shooting percentages, Nicholls had a 12-board edge in rebounding. Smith and Oumar Koureissi had seven each while Michael Gray Jr. and Jamal West Jr. chipped in with five apiece. Gray came off the bench to add eight points on the night. 

Alonzo Dodd led the Lions with 15 points and Kalen Williams scored 12.