THIBODAUX, La. - For the second straight home game, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team held the opposition scoreless through the opening four minutes as the Colonels breezed by East Texas A&M with an 80-58 victory Saturday on Broussard Court in Stopher Gymnasium.
Nicholls (6-8, 5-0 SLC) led 15-0 before the Lions cracked the scoring column at the 14:47 mark. Although the Colonels led the entire night and eventually won by 22, East Texas A&M (6-9, 1-4 SLC) was able to trim the deficit to three after halftime. But the Colonels drained 10 three-pointers in the second period to remain undefeated in league play.
Sincere Malone poured in a season-high 21 points on 8 of 12 shooting and had one of the Colonels' 14 3-balls on the day. He also played a big role on defense with five steals as Nicholls forced 24 turnovers, leading to a 32-14 advantage on points scored off turnovers.Â
Malone was joined in double figures by
Jaylen Searles and
Christian Winborne -- both scoring 17 points and combining for nine three-pointers. Searles recorded his first double-double of the season with a career-high 13 rebounds while adding seven assists.
Nicholls wasted no time getting the crowd involved with two dunks and two three-pointers for a 10-0 lead. Winborne added another from long range before a Searles free throw gave the Colonels their 15-0 advantage.
Josh Taylor scored the first bucket for the Lions but Searles answered with a three-pointer. East Texas then went on 13-2 run to make it a 20-15 game. The rest of the half featured a pair of runs as Nicholls pounded the paint for eight straight points for a 30-17 edge before the Lions outscored the Colonels 8-1 to close out the half.
Searles started the scoring in the second period by hitting another three-pointer, however, Noah Pagotta scored the next two field goals and Taylor followed with a layup to make it 34-31 Colonels. Pagotta and Taylor each scored 17 points for the Lions.
Winborne quickly ended any threat of the Colonels losing the lead with back-to-back three-pointers. He sank another three to push the lead to 11 and his final triple gave Nicholls a 58-42 lead midway through the half.Â
The Colonels saw their first 20-point advantage at 62-42 and went on to claim their six consecutive win in the series against East Texas A&M.
Nicholls continued its impressive effort in guarding the three-point line in league play, holding the Lions to 3 of 24. The defense is limiting opponents to 26.1 percent in the five Southland games.
The Colonels shot 41 percent from long range by making 14 of 34.
Kevin Pazmino made three for all nine of his points.Â
UP NEXT
Nicholls returns to action Monday night at home against Northwestern State. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. and tickets are availableÂ
here.
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