CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Trailing by eight with eight minutes to go, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team held Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to six points the rest of the way as the Colonels stayed unbeaten in league play with a 76-71 victory Monday night inside the Hilliard Center.

Nicholls (4-8, 3-0 SLC) closed out the game by outscoring the Islanders, 19-6, despite making only two field goals. The Colonels drained 15 of 17 free throws during the stretch after not attempting one in the first half.  The 88 percent clip was a season best for Nicholls.

The first made field goal was a three-pointer by Christian Winborne, who was fouled and hit the free throw to cut the deficit to 67-65 with 4:52 remaining. Sincere Malone connected on four straight to give Nicholls the lead and he then made a tough driving layup for a 72-69 edge with 36 seconds to go.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (5-7, 1-2 SLC) scored inside with six seconds left and immediately fouled Trae English after the inbound pass. English sank both to go back up three and the Colonels then picked up a steal before the Islanders could get off a three-point attempt. The Islander bench was assessed a technical and English finished off the scoring with two more free throws to make the final.

Jalik Dunkley continued his hot start in Southland play with 16 points on 5 of 9 from the field. The sophomore transfer scored 19 and 23 in his first two league games on a combined 87.5 percent shooting. Winborne finished with 13 points and accounted for six of the Colonels' 12 steals, while Malone and Jaylen Searles added 12 points each.

Winborne helped spark the offense in the first half with three triples as Nicholls made 10 of 19 from long range for a 42-34 halftime lead. Searles, Dunkley and Zee Hamoda each drained two buckets as well from three-point range.

Nicholls raced out to a double-digit advantage after a steal made way for a Dunkley dunk five minutes into the game. The Colonels led by as much as 12 in the half before the Islanders trimmed the deficit to 30-26 with four minutes until the break. 

In the second half, AMCC outscored Nicholls 15-5 over the opening four minutes to grab their first lead of the night. The Islanders flipped the script in the period by hitting six three-pointers, with the last by Nicolas Shogbonyo giving them the 65-57 with eight minutes remaining. But the Colonel defense allowed just two field goals and two free throws the rest of the game to secure their first 3-0 start in conference since 2014.

Nicholls shot 50 percent from the floor and 11 of 23 from three-point range. English added nine points and racked up eight assists as the team had 17 on 25 made field goals. 

Shogbonyo led AMCC with 16 points on 5 of 11 from the field.

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Nicholls will stay on the road as they head to UTRGV for a 4:30 p.m. New Year's Eve matchup.