Colonels seek win at Texas A&M-Commerce to keep pace as Southland contender

The penchant of the Nicholls men’s basketball team to win close games in the Southland Conference continued in the Colonels’ most recent outing.

Nicholls’ Mekhi Collins blocked a shot by Sky Wicks of Incarnate Word at the end of regulation last Monday, sending the game into overtime. The Colonels never trailed in the overtime period, coming out with a 78-74 road win.

The win allowed Nicholls to remain in a three-way tie for second place behind unbeaten McNeese in the SLC at 4-2. Except for a 69-59 loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, all other conference games the Colonels have played have been decided by five points or less. Three of the games went to overtime.

Whether by a margin large or small, the Colonels need a win at Texas A&M-Commerce to keep pace with Corpus Christi and Lamar to stay within striking distance of McNeese. The Colonels (9-10 overall) and Lions are slated to square off at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Texas A&M-Commerce, which is 1-4 in the Southland and 7-11 overall, is coming off a 76-65 loss at Lamar.

The Lions were held to two points by Lamar over the final five minutes of the first half to fall behind 29-21 at the break.

Lamar opened the second half connecting on 7 of 10 shots to build a 14-point edge. The biggest lead for Lamar was 25 points as the Cardinals cruised to the win.

The Lions are eighth in the SLC in scoring, averaging 70 points per game but feature two of the league’s top 10 scorers, among players who qualify.

Kalen Williams is averaging 16.4 points per game to rank fourth in the league, while Tommie Lewis is ninth, averaging 15 points per outing. Jerome Brewer Jr. is averaging 16 points and leads the team in rebounds, averaging 5.3 boards per game.

The Lions are fourth in the league in scoring defense, yielding 71.6 points per game, but last in rebounding, averaging only 31.2 per contest.

Commerce is ninth in the 10-team league in both field goal percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. The Lions are hitting 43.3 percent of their shots from the field, and 33.9 from 3-point distance.

Individually, Williams ranks sixth in field goal percentage at 48.5 percent, while Lewis is seventh at 46.7 percent. Lewis is fifth in 3-point shooting at 37.9 percent.

By contrast, the Colonels are third in the league in scoring at 75.8 points, seventh in scoring defense, allowing 75.2 points per game, and fifth in rebounds, pulling down 36.8 per contest.

The Colonels are fifth in field goal percentage at 44.3 percent, and sixth in 3-point shooting at 33.9 percent.

Nicholls features three of the top seven scorers in the league.

Rob Brown is fifth with an average of 16.3 points per game, Diante Smith is sixth at 15, and Jamal West seventh at 15.2.

Smith and West are tied for eighth in the league in rebounding with an average of 6.3 boards per game. Byron Ireland is No. 10 at 6.2.

West is second in the conference in field goal percentage, hitting 9.3 percent of his shots, while Brown is eighth at 46.1 percent. Smith is second in 3-point shooting percentage, hitting at a clip of 42.9 percent.

The Colonels will have a week between games following the Texas A&M-Commerce encounter.

Nicholls will be back in action February 3 when the Colonels host Houston Christian at 3 p.m. at Stopher Gym.