THIBODAUX, La. - Looking to climb back into the win column, the Nicholls State University men's basketball team will head to East Texas A&M on Saturday before a Monday night matchup against Northwestern State.

Saturday's contest in Commerce, Texas is slated for 5 p.m. while Monday's game is set for 6:30 p.m.

Nicholls (8-13, 7-5 SLC) defeated both squads in early January as part of its 7-0 start, but the Colonels have dropped their last five games. Nicholls was alone in first place before the skid but are now tied for third just past the midway point of league play. 

Nicholls is aiming to find its offense, averaging 67 points on 38 percent shooting during its losing streak. The defense has been one of the best in the nation at causing turnovers this season but is just plus-5 in the last five outings. 

Zee Hamado provided scoring off the bench last game by netting a team-high 19 points on Tuesday for his fourth double-figure outing. Jaylen Searles continues to lead the offense on the season at 14.6 points per game, followed by Jalik Dunkley at 13.6 while grabbing a team-best 7.0 rebounds.

Sincere Malone scored just two points last outing but matched his career-high of eight assists to go along with three steals. Malone leads the Southland with 2.1 steals per game. 

The Colonels are coming off an 18-point loss to New Orleans which ended their five-game winning streak in the series against the Privateers. Nicholls will look to keep another streak intact as the Colonels have won the last six against East Texas A&M (8-13, 3-8 SLC).

Nicholls defeated a shorthanded East Texas squad, 80-58, to open the New Year. The streak over the Lions started with a double-overtime win on the road but the Colonels have won the last five by at least 15 points. 

East Texas A&M is currently tied with the other Lions, Southeastern, for the fewest league wins at three. But they are 4-3 at home this season highlighted by an SLC win over UTRGV.

Northwestern State (6-14, 4-7 SLC) has lost three in a row but their last six games could have easily gone either way. After a two-point loss to Nicholls, the Demons picked up a pair of one-point wins over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UTRGV. In their last three outings, they lost each game by two points. 

UP NEXT
Following the two-game road swing, Nicholls returns home to host AMCC (Feb. 7) and UTRGV (Feb. 9).