Early second-half lead fails to hold up in Colonels’ 73-67 loss at Maryland

An 11-0 run early in the second half gave Tevon Saddler’s team a nine-point advantage and a lead it would hold for much of the second half at Maryland on Tuesday night.

Saddler’s Nicholls team, however, was unable to hold the lead, falling 73-67 to spoil a homecoming of sorts for the Colonels coach. The Nicholls first-year coach had served as an assistant at Maryland the year prior to his taking over the program at the Thibodaux school.

The loss dropped Nicholls to 4-7 on the season while Maryland improved to 7-4 overall.

Trailing 34-30, 3-pointers by Jalen White and Ron Brown put Nicholls on top 36-34. Another 3-pointer by White extended the Colonels’ lead to 41-34. Yet another long-distance basket by White, who hit on the first five of his six 3-pointers in the contest, gave Nicholls a 41-34 edge.

Jamal West ended the run with an inside basket for the biggest lead of the game for either team at nine points as the Colonels led 43-34 at the 14:35 mark of the second half.

Just as Nicholls appeared to be on its way to a second win over a school from a Power-5 conference after Saddler picked up career win No. 1 at LSU earlier in the season, the Colonels fortunes began to change.

Both teams struggled from the free-throw line in the first half with the Terrapins hitting 1 of 5 free throws and the Colonels 2 of 8.

In the second half, Maryland connected on 18 of 24 free throws. Nicholls was 7 of 9 in the second half.

Meanwhile, the one constant for Maryland came from offensive rebounds as the Terrapins scored 19 second-chance shots, compared to seven for the Colonels.

After the basket by West, Maryland countered with a follow-up basket by Julian Reece, a 3-pointer by Donta Scott, and a Scott free throw to cut the Nicholls lead to three points at 43-40.

After Nicholls regained a five-point edge, Maryland eventually tied the game at 49-49 before the teams traded leads until the Terrapins went up for good with 5:03 left in the game. Reece, who struggled at the line by hitting only 3 of 11 attempts, hit two free throws to give Maryland a 57-55 edge.

Maryland’s biggest lead of the game was eight points down the stretch – at 67-59 and 69-61.

Trailing by eight with less than one minute remaining, the Colonels tried to rally back on a pair of 3-pointers by Diante Smith and Michael Gray, but the Terrapins hit their final eight free throws to take the 73-67 win.

West and Smith each had a double-double for Nicholls. West scored 14 points and pulled down 18 rebounds. Smith, playing for the first time after missing three games with an injury, scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds. All of White’s 15 points came on 3-pointers.

Jahmir Young led all scorers with 23 points. He also had 11 rebounds. Scott added 15 points. Reece had nine points and a career-high six blocks.

A competitive first half led to four lead changes and four ties with neither team holding a lead of more than five points.

Maryland enjoyed the five-point edge on two separate occasions.

The first came at 20-15 on a 3-pointer by Young at the 7:53 mark of the opening half. The other five-point advantage came at 25-20 on a follow-up basket by Young with 4:41 left before halftime.

Nicholls never led by more than two points in the first half.

Leading by one point, Brown hit one of two free throws to give Nicholls a 27-25 lead with 53.7 seconds left in the half before Scott hit a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining for a 28-27 Terrapins lead at the half.

Nicholls kept the game close by hitting five of seven 3-pointers in the opening period.