HAMMOND, La. - Sincere Malone scored a game-high 19 points, Jaylen Searles and Jalik Dunkley chipped in with 14 but the Nicholls State University men's basketball team was unable to hang on to a halftime lead as the Colonels fell to Southeastern, 67-61, Saturday afternoon at the University Center.

The loss was the fourth straight for Nicholls (8-12, 7-4 SLC) while Southeastern (6-14, 3-8 SLC) snapped its own four-game skid. 

Nicholls outshot SLU in the opening half, 43 percent to 33, and led 32-28 at the break. But in the second period, the Colonels made just six field goals at a 21 percent clip. The final 20 minutes saw each team shoot 20 free throws with the Lions totaling 16 made while Nicholls connected on 15. 

SLU outscored Nicholls 9-1 to open the second half and never trailed again. Searles ended the initial run with a three-pointer, however, the Lions canned three of their five triples on the day to push the lead to 48-38 at the 12-minute mark.

Despite the second-half struggles, the Colonels hung around and made it interesting late. A 6-0 run with four minutes to go made it 56-53, but SLU pushed the advantage back to seven after a dunk and two free throws. Then in the final minute with Nicholls trailing 63-59, Christian Winborne tallied one of his five steals but the Colonels misfired on a three-ball.

The teams then combined for six free throws to finish out the scoring.

With the Colonels missing starter Trae English, Malone and Searles played all 40 minutes and had three assists each. Although Dunkley had a double-double with 10 rebounds, Nicholls was outrebounded, 45-32. 

Nicholls was held to 32 percent from the field for the second straight outing while Southeastern finished at 38 percent and had three players score in double figures.

STUFF STOPHER UPDATE
Nicholls will host New Orleans for its annual Stuff Stopher game on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The game was pushed back from Monday due to wintry conditions.