Nicholls bulldozes UNO in Senior Day rout, 92-68

THIBODAUX, La. — Powered by consistent dominance on both ends of the court, the Nicholls State University men’s basketball program (20-10, 14-5 SLC) secured arguably the team’s most impressive Division I victory of the season Saturday afternoon against in-state rival New Orleans (8-20, 4-14 SLC), vanquishing the Privateers by a 92-68 margin in front of a raucous Senior Day crowd at Stopher Gym.

After jumping out of the gate to nine unanswered points, the Colonels never looked back as the squad expanded the lead as large as 36 points throughout the one-sided contest. Individually, seniors Elvis Harvey Jr. (16 pts) and Dexter McClanahan (15 pts) fittingly set the tone on with a combined 31 points while junior Kevin Johnson added 15 of his own.

KEY STORYLINES & STATISTICS
— For the game, Nicholls finished shooting 48.6 percent (35-of-72) overall, 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) at the free throw line.
— With the win, the Colonels complete their fifth Southland sweep of the season, adding UNO to a collection that features Sam Houston State, Lamar, HBU and Southeastern Louisiana.
— Further, the victory pushes the Red & Gray to the 20-win mark for just the fourth time in program history, including the second in the past three years, and improves the team’s home win streak to a solid six games.
— Beyond the three standouts, both redshirt senior D’Angelo Hunter and redshirt junior Andre Jones impressed with double-figure performances as well, scoring 10 apiece with a joint six assists and seven boards.
— On the glass, sophomore Warith Alatishe paced the squad behind a team-high nine rebounds while Harvey Jr. pulled down a second-best eight on the day.
— Second year head coach Austin Claunch found multiple opportunities to honor his five seniors with extended minutes, and even composed his entire starting lineup of the five graduating student-athletes. Notably, Tom Clement logged eight quality minutes on the hardwood, dropping a season-high five points on 1-of-4 from the field, including 1-of-3 from long range and 2-of-2 at the charity stripe.

UP NEXT
The Colonels close out the regular season with the team’s final league rematch of the year, hosting McNeese on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at Stopher Gym before advancing to the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas the following week.

STAY SOCIAL
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