Nicholls wins at Northwestern State to clinch conference tournament bye

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Needing a victory to clinch a bye in next week’s Southland Conference Tournament, the Nicholls State University men’s basketball team turned in one of its best defensive performances of the season as the Colonels stifled Northwestern State in a 68-62 win Monday night inside Prather Coliseum.

With the win, Nicholls improved to 17-13 overall, 12-5 in SLC play and is guaranteed a bye in the postseason with its first game in Lake Charles set for Monday. Tickets for the tournament can be purchased here.

The win also gave the Colonels a season sweep of Northwestern State (9-21, 7-10 SLC) — its fifth sweep of an opponent this season.

The defense limited NSU to 34 percent shooting from the field, helped by a 29 percent clip in the second half. After a competitive first period, the Demons led by two heading into the intermission before Byron Irleand sank a trey and Quinn Strander stole the ball deep in the backcourt and converted on a layup for a 37-34 advantage.

Following the break, Nicholls led by as much as 10 and once the Demons cut the deficit to 55-52 with less than six minutes remaining, the Colonels answered with a three-pointer by Robert Brown III and a pair on Ireland free throws. The two made free throws started a stretch of 8 makes in 10 attempts to close out the victory.

Brown had his second-straight magnificent Monday outing, scoring a game-high 21 points on 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 7 from three-point range. Brown set a career-high with 28 points on 8 of 8 from three in the Colonels’ Monday home finale against UIW.

Diante Smith chipped in with three triples and was a rebound shy of a double-double, totaling 18 points and nine rebounds, and Ireland finished with 12 points. Jamal West Jr., who anchored the defense with a career-high six blocks, added eight points and six rebounds.

Nicholls shot at 46 percent overall, 9 of 21 from behind the arc, and took care of business at the charity stripe by making 17 of 22. The Colonels also cut back on their turnovers from last game, going from 17 to 11.

Braelon Bush paced three Demons in double figures with 15 points. Cliff Davis, who scored 25 points on seven three-pointers in the earlier meeting against the Colonels, was limited to three buckets from deep and 11 points.

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Nicholls will wrap up the regular season on Thursday, March 7 at Southeastern. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.