THIBODAUX, La. - Playing at home for the first time this season, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team used an impressive defensive effort to defeat UIW, 74-67, on Saturday afternoon on Broussard Court at Stopher Gymnasium.
Nicholls (1-7, 1-0 SLC) held UIW to a season-low 37.9 percent from the field and allowed just one made three-pointer on 14 attempts. The Cardinals (5-4, 1-1 SLC) came into the matchup averaging over 86 points per game following their league-opening win over McNeese.
On offense, sophomoreÂ
Jalik Dunkley led a trio of Colonels in double figures with 19 points.
Sincere Malone had 13 points and
Trae English added 11 as Nicholls shot 44 percent and connected on 9 of 17 from behind the arc. Malone was 2-for-2 from long range while
Zee Hamoda came off the bench to shoot 3 of 4.
Dunkley got the crowd off their feet early with a slam in the opening minutes but neither team took control until Nicholls went up 17-16 midway through the half. The teams swapped leads eight times before that point and the Colonels stayed ahead for the rest of the period.
The largest lead came at 26-20 on a
Nick Krass layup but UIW would trim the deficit to 34-33 at the break.
The Cardinals regained the advantage early in the second half, but a 9-0 run gave Nicholls a 52-44 lead with 13 minutes remaining. Two steals ignited the spurt and
Christian Winborne and Malone capped it with back-to-back three-pointers.
For the rest of the way, Nicholls was unable to stretch the lead but UIW never came closer than three points. Leading 55-52, the Colonels got a big 3-ball from Hamoda and he then found Malone for a bucket to push the margin to seven.
The final one-possession lead came with 21 seconds before English and Dunkley sank four free throws to put the game away.
Nicholls limited the SLC's leading scorer Davion Bailey to seven points on 1 of 8 from the field. Jordan Pyke was a rebound shy of a double-double with a game-high 21 points and Tahj Staveski added 19 points.
The victory was the sixth straight in the series against UIW and 10th out of the last 11 meetings. Head coach
Tevon Saddler also improved to 3-0 in Southland home openers.
UP NEXT
Nicholls will play its second of a three-game home stretch on Wednesday, Dec. 10 against the College of Biblical Studies. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
