NACOGDOCHES, Texas - A stellar shooting display from three-point range was not enough for an upset over first-place Stephen F. Austin as the Nicholls State University men's basketball team fell 81-78 to the Lumberjacks on Saturday night inside William R. Johnson Coliseum.

Nicholls (11-17, 10-9 SLC) drained 13 of 26 from long range to stay close against SFA (25-3, 18-1 SLC) and had a chance to send the game in overtime but an off-balanced triple by Sincere Malone at the buzzer was off the mark. 

Facing one of the nation's top defensive teams, the Colonels finished at 54 percent from the field after shooting 60 percent in the second half. Zee Hamoda scored a season-high 24 points on 8 of 11 overall and 4 of 6 from behind the arc, while Trae English had 15 points and six assists. Sincere Malone also scored in double figures with 13 points and added five assists, and Christian Winborne rounded out the leading scorers with 10 points.

English and Hamoda started the scoring with a three-ball each, but SFA reeled off the next 13 points. The Lumberjacks hit three from long range to spark the early run.

SFA stayed in front until midway through the period when Hamoda drained a pair of free throws for a 19-18 advantage. The teams would trade leads five times over the next 2:30. Then with three minutes to go, Winborne tied the game at 34 with a triple but SFA would score the last five points to take a 39-34 lead into the break.

In the second half, the Lumberjacks went up eight early before Hamoda accounted for six straight points and English tied it up at 45 with a layup. But over the next four minutes, SFA used a 14-3 run to grab a double-digit lead.

Nicholls continued to hang around for the rest of the way and a three-pointer by English made it 78-76 SFA with two minutes left. After an offensive foul, Malone came through with a pair of free throws to tie the game with a minute to go.

SFA scored inside to regain the lead and came up with a defensive stop before adding a free throw with five seconds remaining. The Lumberjacks elected not to foul and escaped with the victory, pushing their winning streak to 13 games.

Lateef Patrick Jr. led SFA with 20 points while Keon Thompson added 16 and nine assists.

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Nicholls will stay on the road for a matchup against Lamar on Monday, Feb. 23. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and the game will be on national television on CBS Sports.