THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University men's basketball team held a seven-point lead with 10 minutes to go before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went on a 17-2 run to hand the Colonels an 83-76 setback Saturday afternoon on Broussard Court at Stopher Gymnasium.

With the loss, Nicholls slipped to 10-14 overall and 9-6 in the Southland after falling at home for the fourth straight game. The Colonels are now tied for third in the standings with the Islanders (13-11, 9-6 SLC) and Monday's opponent, UTRGV. The Vaqueroes head to Thibodaux with a seven-game winning streak.  

Despite coming up short, Sincere Malone scored a game-high 18 points and Jalik Dunkley followed with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Trae English provided a spark off the bench with 16 points and four steals.

Nicholls finished at 50 percent from the field but had trouble keeping the Islanders off the scoreboard as they shot 63 percent in the second half. During the decisive stretch, AMCC scored five times in the paint and hit two of their six three-pointers on the day, with the last coming from Nick Shogbonyo which gave the Islanders a 72-62 lead with 2:40 remaining.

Nicholls trimmed the deficit in half down the stretch but never came any closer than five points.  

Shogbonyo and Franck Yetna led the Islanders with 17 points apiece. Shogbonyo went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line as AMCC made 19-of-23, while Yetna added six rebounds and shot 7-of-9 from the floor. The Islanders trailed just once in the first half when Jalin Rice hit a late three-ball for the Colonels, but DA Houston beat the buzzer for a layup, sending AMCC into the break with a 39-38 edge.

Following the break, the Colonels made their push after the first media timeout. Zee Hamoda canned a pair of three-pointers and Malone scored inside for the 60-53 advantage. However, Nicholls would not make another field goal until the 2:25 mark as the Islanders picked up a split in the season series.