Nicholls moves to 3-1 in SLC as Privateers have no answer for late Colonel pressure defense

Nicholls was trailing by 12 points with slightly more than nine minutes remaining in the game when the Colonels upped the defensive intensity against the visiting University of New Orleans in a bid to get back in their Southland Conference game on Monday night.

“We made a couple of adjustments that kind of stuck. We were able to force a couple of turnovers and speed the game up. It kind of played in our favor based on a couple of zone presses and got rolling from there,” Nicholls coach Tevon Saddler said.

“We had to create possessions. That’s all. We had no choice but to speed them up and make something happen. We’re definitely not going to go like that. Our motto is ‘protect the crib.’ Nobody is getting nothing in here. We’re not going to let it happen,” Colonel post player Jamal West said.

When Tyson Jackson scored on a layup, UNO took its biggest lead of the game at 17 points, 66-49, with 11:37 left in the game.

Nicholls trailed by 10 points at halftime and the Colonels quickly cut the deficit in half by scoring the first five points of the second period on a dunk by Mekhi Collins and a 3-pointer by Rob Brown.

The Privateers countered by going inside to Jackson. He scored eight of his team-high 18 points over the next seven minutes when his basket at the 11:37 mark put UNO by 17.

“Basketball is a game of runs. We’ve got to figure out a way to stop going up and being down. Right now, we’re too much of a roller coaster. I’d like it to be more of a steady line,” Saddler said.

Nicholls cut the deficit to 12 points at 66-54 on a slam by West.

It was at that point the Colonels picked up the defensive intensity.

The Privateers turned the ball over on a travel call against Jordan Johnson and the Colonels quickly took advantage on a layup by Brown.

Nicholls cut the deficit down to six points when the Privateers threw the ball away trying to get the ball past the midcourt against the Colonels’ press. Nicholls failed to score on its next possession when West missed a pair of free throws, but the turnover demonstrated the problems the Privateers had coping with Nicholls’ pressure defense.

The Colonels finally gained the lead on a slam by Brown that generated a roar from the home crowd on Broussard Court at Stopher Gym as Nicholls took the lead at 73-72 with 2:10 left in the game.

“Coach always talks about that’s a momentum boost. A lot of times before previous to this game, coaches got on me for double-clutching and going off one foot. So I just tried to make the play today that was all,” said Brown

The dunk added a highlight-reel moment to the game, but the genesis of the comeback,” Brown said, began earlier.

“I think (Oumar Koureissi) came off the bench and provided great energy for our team. I feel like the first half, he kind of lacked it a little bit, but he made up for it in the second half. I think he actually started that momentum for us as well. I don’t think it was just the dunk. I think he started that too, and then deflections,” said Brown.

Nicholls’ lead lasted only a moment as a 3-pointer by James Glisson put UNO back on top at 75-73.

Jalen White nailed a 3-pointer from the right baseline to put Nicholls back on top 76-75 with 1:20 left in the game.

After Brown drove to the basket to extend the Nicholls lead to three points, UNO’s Jamond Vincent missed a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the game. After a Nicholls turnover, Jackson missed from long range with two seconds left as the Colonels held on for the 78-75 win.

Nicholls improved to 3-1 in the Southland and 8-9 overall. The Privateers fell to 2-2 in the SLC and 7-10 overall.

West led all scorers with 23 points. Brown finished with 18 points and White 12. West and Diante Smith each had seven rebounds.

Along with Jackson, Mason Jones had 15 points for UNO, Johnson 14, Glisson 12, and Jah Short 11. Short led the team in rebounds with eight.

Johnson, who was limited to six points at halftime, was coming off a pair of games in which he scored 35 and 40 points.

“We’re not letting him come here and drop 38 and 40. We’re not them. Nicholls has lost eight games in the last 10, 15 years or something like that in here. We are not letting that happen here,” West said.

“It was a point of emphasis before the game that he’s the head of their snake and Coach did a great job at emphasizing that to us and I feel like we did a great job at preparing and we shut them down,” said Brown.

It didn’t take the Colonels long to build an 11-point lead against UNO when a Collins dunk gave Nicholls a 14-3 edge less than six minutes into the game.

It also didn’t take the Colonels long to squander the lead.

Johnson’s 3-pointer after he came up with a steal put the Privateers on top 22-21 at the 9:30 mark as part of a 19-7 run by UNO.

The Privateers came up with several baskets off of offensive rebounds during the stretch. On one occasion after a UNO miss, the Colonels left the baseline open, allowing for an easy follow-up basket by Short that allowed the Privateers at the time to narrow their deficit to five points at 20-15.

Nicholls managed to regain the lead following Johnson’s 3-pointer before the Privateers went on to build a lead of 42-32 at halftime.

The Colonels, known for their outside shooting, was 2 of 11 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range in the first half.

“They wanted it more to us in the first half. They did a great job turning us over – not only turning us over, but they did a great job of beating us for 50-50 balls. That’s what we pride ourselves on. They beat us at our own game in the first half. The second half late, we were able to change that,” Saddler said.