EDINBURG, Texas - Sophomore
Jalik Dunkley tallied his third double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead a trio of Colonels in double figures as the Nicholls State University men's basketball team improved to 4-0 in the Southland with a 71-69 victory at UT Rio Grande Valley on New Year's Eve.
With the victory, Nicholls (5-8, 4-0 SLC) is one of two teams in the Southland without a loss. The 4-0 start is the best for the program since the 1997-98 championship season.
Similar to Monday's win, Nicholls took care of business at the free throw line in the second half by knocking down 14 of 18 after shooting only six in the opening period. The Colonels used a 7-0 run, started on a
Christian Winborne three-pointer and capped on a slam by Dunkley, to grab a 60-55 lead with eight minutes remaining and never trailed again.
UTRGV (5-8, 1-3 SLC) trimmed the deficit to 65-62 with two minutes remaining and 67-66 with 17 seconds left, but
Jaylen Searles answered with two free throws on both occasions. Nicholls picked up a stop before
Sincere Malone added two free throws in the waning seconds, and the Vaqueros made a late three-pointer to make the final.
Dunkley's 22 points come on 8 of 13 shooting including two dunks off of steals. He also added three blocks as Nicholls held UTRGV to 44 percent from the field. Searles finished with 13 points and four assists while Malone totaled 10 points, three assists and three steals.
Trae English accounted for all the scoring through the first five minutes by hitting a pair of three-pointers. The Colonels kept UTRGV off the board until Julien Gomez drained a three-ball at the 14:50 mark.
The Colonels saw their largest lead at 23-13 following a Searles' steal that led to an easy bucket by Dunkley midway through the half. But the Vaqueros answered with a 15-5 spurt to knot the game before going into the break with a 39-35 edge.
UTRGV scored the first two points of the second half but Nicholls quickly countered with an 8-0 run. Winborne again hit a three-ball and Malone tied the game with a basket-and-1. Dunkley then stole an inbounds pass and went the distance for his first dunk of the night.
Over the next seven minutes, there would be five ties and four lead changes before the Colonels pieced together their decisive 7-0 run.
Nicholls finished shooting 45 percent for the game and 8 of 23 from behind the arc. The defense registered 10 steals off of 19 UTRGV turnovers.
The Vaqueros were led on offense by Jaylen Washington with 17 points and Gomez added 16 with nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Colonels will stay in Louisiana for their next eight games, starting with home contests against East Texas A&M (Jan. 3) and Northwestern State (Jan. 5).
