Harvey Jr., Jones lead Nicholls comeback effort past UCA, 79-72

THIBODAUX, La. — Following yet another underwhelming first half, the Nicholls State University men’s basketball program (12-7, 6-2 Southland) flipped the script across the final 20 minutes of action, outscoring conference challenger Central Arkansas (5-14, 4-4 Southland) by an impressive 20 points (49 to 29) as the Colonels clinched a 79-72 victory Saturday afternoon at Stopher Gym.

Senior Elvis Harvey Jr. paced the Red & Gray’s rally throughout the second half, putting on a clinic as the Florida native dropped 19 of his 24 overall points during the period, resetting a new career-high along the way.

Similarly, redshirt junior Andre Jones composed a brilliant half of his own, posting 14 of his eventual 20 points while pulling down five boards on just over 19 minutes of action (all but 33 seconds of the second period). Notably, the marquee win marks the third come-from-behind victory of the season — all versus Southland opponents — as the Colonels have now erased halftime deficits against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14), UIW (2) and UCA (13).

KEY STORYLINES & STATISTICS
— For the game, Nicholls finished shooting 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the floor, 45.5 percent (10-of-22) at the three-point line and 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the charity stripe.
— The Colonels’ statistical differences between their first and second halves continue to epitomize night and day, as the Red & Gray shot nearly 14 percent better from the field in the second (53.1 pct vs. 39.3 pct) as well as 18 percentage points higher from beyond the arc (54.6 pct vs. 36.4 pct). Additionally, the Colonels shooting improvements lead to correlated deficiencies for their opposition, as UCA fell 14 percent overall from the floor and 33 points from long range.
— The other major individual showcase in the second half came from redshirt senior D’Angelo Hunter, who, after scoring just two points in the intial period, drilled a trio of three-pointers — including the critical bucket to give Nicholls a lead it would never surrender — across a complete 20 minutes on the hardwood.
— On the glass, no single Colonel served as the primary rebounder with the task proving a true group effort; Harvey Jr. finished with a team-high six boards, but Jones, Hunter and senior Brandon Moore Jr. each managed to grab five boards apiece as well.

UP NEXT
The Red & Gray shift focus to their final home game of January, hosting Southland opponent HBU on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. before heading back on the road for a trio of league contests.

STAY SOCIAL
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