Southeastern rules paint but cannot overcome slow start at Nicholls

THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team saw its four-game win streak undone by a barrage of threes in the first half and a parade to the free throw line in the second as Nicholls held off the Lions comeback attempt, 66-61, Tuesday evening on the Broussard Court at David R. Stopher Gymnasium.

Southeastern (6-10, 1-1 SLC) never led in the contest as ice cold shooting early saw the Lions down double digits just six minutes into the contest as Nicholls (7-9, 2-0 SLC) jumped out to a 16-5 advantage. As the Lions tried to get on track, the Colonels pushed that advantage up to its largest of the contest at 16 points following a three-pointer with 4:30 to go before halftime which gave Nicholls a 31-15 edge.

But the Lions started to get into gear as Roger McFarlane corralled an offensive rebound and put it back in to start a half-ending 11-1 run which made a serious dent in the deficit as Brody Rowbury’s layup with just less than 30 seconds left made the score 32-26 as a defensive stand made that score hold into the halftime locker room.

That run continued into the second half as Nick Caldwell scored the first four points of the last 20 minutes, extending the run to a 15-1 Lions spurt and cutting the deficit down to two points at 32-30. Nicholls answered by scoring the next six points to get their lead back up to eight points. That began a trend which continued for the remainder of the period of SLU cutting the deficit down to one or two possessions only to see the Colonels extend the advantage back out to seven or eight points.

Trailing 55-47 as the game ticked under five minutes left, Brody Rowbury was fouled as he banged the ball off the square and in for a three-point play, which he converted, starting a run of five-straight points by the big from Idado which got the deficit back down to three as his layup with less than four minutes left made the score 55-52 Colonels. Nicholls drained a three on their ensuing possession to immediately double the deficit back to six. With the Lions still down six and just more than a minute left, Caldwell popped open above the arc from straight away and drained the three-pointer, making it 63-60 Nicholls. But late shot attempts for the Lions wouldn’t fall and the Colonels finished things off with a couple free throws down the stretch.

Caldwell was the game’s top scorer with 20 points as he hit nine of his 13 shot attempts, including his only three-point attempt, and was one-of-two at the free throw line. He also had three assists and a rebound. Rowbury hit six of his 10 shot attempts and was three of five at the free throw line to finish with 15 points while grabbing six rebounds. Roscoe Eastmond hit four of his 10 shot attempts and finished with eight points while dishing out 11 assists and collecting four steals. McFarlane ended his night with seven points but grabbed 12 rebounds while getting two steals and two assists. Alec Woodard filled up his stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, two steals, and an assist.

Southeastern took more shots than Nicholls, 58-48, made more shots than the Colonels, 26-21, and dominated the paint to the tune of 44 points in the paint to just 24 points in the lane for Nicholls. The game was decided above the three-point arc, where Nicholls made nine compared to SLU’s three with the Colonels taking ten more attempts from deep than the Lions, and the free throw line as Nicholls got 10 more attempts from the stripe than the Lions which turned into nine more points for the Colonels than the Lions scored once the free throws were converted. Nicholls’ Jamal West, Jr. took 13 free throw attempts on his own, taking two more than the entire SLU team did in the contest, hitting two more than the Lions did as a team. The Colonels hit six of their nine three-pointers in the first 20 minutes while 11 of their 15 made free throws came in the last 20 minutes, all while Southeastern extended out its advantage in the paint.

The Lions look to rebound on Saturday, wrapping up the three-game road trip by heading down to Lake Charles for a date with McNeese State. Tip-off of Saturday’s game against the Cowboys (13-2, 2-0 SLC) is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Legacy Center. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, or on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available through the host institution.

HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
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TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.