HAMMOND, La. - After the teams combined for 52 points in the first half, No. 21/20 Southeastern did just enough in the second to stave off a comeback by the Nicholls State University football team as the Colonels fell 38-26 Thursday night in the River Bell Classic at Strawberry Stadium.

Trailing 31-23 after scoring the third quarter's only points on a safety, Nicholls (4-8, 4-4 SLC) drove down the field late in the fourth and kicked a 38-yard field goal by Gabriel Showalter with 5:07 remaining. But the Colonel defense could not get a stop and Southeastern (9-3, 7-1 SLC) put the game away with a touchdown run by Jaedon Henry just after the two-minute timeout.

Nicholls moved to midfield on its final drive before a sack ended the rally attempt, putting a halt to the seven-game winning streak by the road team in the series.

Redshirt freshman Shane Lee continued his impressive second half of the season by rushing for 73 yards and two touchdowns, and senior Corey Warren Jr. accounted for the other TD, rushing 47 yards for a score on his lone carry of the night.  For the defense, Jake Dalmado turned in his fifth double-digit tackle effort with 10 and was followed by Ty Marsh (9) and Laurence Sullivan Jr. (8).

SLU grabbed the momentum out of the gate when Khalid Moore poked the ball out on an Ean Rodrigue scramble, giving the Lions the ball at the Colonel 28. SLU went up 7-0 after Jaylon Domingeaux's first of three touchdown catches in the half.

The Colonels then came up with a big play on special teams when Kelvin Gray blocked a punt and Marsh returned it 16 yards to the Lion 14. Two plays later, Lee tied the score with an 8-yard touchdown run.

After the Lions made it 14-7 early in the second, the Colonels put together their longest drive of the night, going 75 yards on nine plays. Miequle Brock Jr. and Jackson Dufrene had 20-yard catches before Lee snuck inside the pylon on a 17-yard touchdown run. Brock totaled 78 yards with 48 on the ground.

The offenses continued to shine with Southeastern scoring on another touchdown pass. Warren then countered with his first touchdown run of the season to tie the score at 21-21. The scoring continued with Lion quarterback Kyle Lowe rushing for a 22-yard touchdown, and SLU ended the half with a field goal for a 31-21 advantage.

The Lions got the ball to start the third quarter and a high snap on the opening play trickled into the end zone, resulting in a safety for the Colonels. But neither offense would score in the third the rest of the way, helped by a fourth-down stop by the Nicholls defense.

In the fourth, the Colonels' field goal drive went 16 plays and took more than nine minutes off the clock. Karaaz Johnson had a clutch 17-yard grab on fourth down to put Nicholls in the red zone, but a fumbled snap resulted in a long fourth-down try and the Colonels settled for a field goal. 

On SLU's final drive, Nicholls had a chance to get the ball back earlier but the Lions converted on a 3rd-and-1 before sealing the win with their final touchdown. 

Southeastern finished with a 413-308 yard advantage on offense, helped by converting 7 of 12 on third downs. Nicholls was 2 of 3 on fourth downs but totaled 1 of 10 on third down.