THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University men's basketball team overcame a sluggish first half against East Texas A&M to push its winning streak to four games with an 81-65 victory Saturday afternoon on Broussard Court at Stopher Gymnasium.
The win gave Nicholls (15-9, 9-4 SLC) a season sweep of the Lions, kept the Red and Gray in a tie for second place in the Southland standings, and improved their home record to 9-3 on the year. The Colonels will host Northwestern State on Monday to conclude their four-game home stand.
In the win,
Michael Gray Jr. continued his second-half scoring assault with 18 of his 20 points coming after the break. It marked his third consecutive game with 20 or more points as Nicholls had to claw back from a halftime deficit for the second straight outing.
Robert Brown III also had double figures in the second half with 12 of his 14 points, and
Sincere Malone powered the offense in the opening 20 minutes with 10 points, finishing with 14 as well.
The Colonels started strong and had three dunks in the first seven minutes to lead 18-9. Malone and West had back-to-back slams and
Emarion Ellis put one down for the nine-point edge. But the defense could not contain Scooter Williams Jr. who hit four three-pointers and scored 16 first-half points. The Lions made seven threes in the period while Nicholls went 0-for-9, making way for a 37-33 advantage at the break.
Nicholls tied the game at 39-39 on a Malone bucket but did not retake the lead until Gray drove through the defense for a layup to make the count 47-46 with 13 minutes remaining.
With the Colonels up four, Brown started a 9-0 run with a putback and ended it with a three-ball for a 68-55 lead. Nicholls led by as much as 19 before going on to win their fifth straight in the series against the Lions.
Nicholls dominated on the glass with a 46-31 advantage, helped by 20 offensive rebounds.
Jaylen Searles corraled 12 rebounds, West added nine and Gray finished two shy of a double-double with eight.
For the Lions, Williams scored a game-high 22 points with six assists but was limited to just six points in the second half. KC Ugwuakazi added 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.
