Sizzling start allows Colonels to move to 6-2 in Southland with 83-73 win over HCU

Overtime games have been very good to the Nicholls men’s basketball team, but one way to avoid extra periods is to take a lead and never relinquish it.

That’s what the Colonels did Saturday afternoon on Broussard Court at Stopher Gym in an 83-73 win over Houston Christian University.

The win improved Nicholls to 6-2 in the Southland Conference and 11-10 overall. HCU fell to 3-6 in the conference and 5-15 overall.

With McNeese suffering its first defeat of the season in a 77-74 loss to Southeastern on Saturday, coupled with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s 79-71 win over Lamar, the Southland race has tightened even further. McNeese still leads but is now 8-1 in league play, while Corpus Chrisi is 7-2, and Nicholls is 6-2.

Along with shooting a sizzling percentage early in the game, the Colonels also played one of their cleanest games of the season in terms of limiting mistakes.

“I thought we did a great job of just managing the game. I’m most proud about the four turnovers tonight,” Nicholls coach Tevon Saddler said.

Nicholls shot 59 percent from the field, including a sizzling 21 of 32 (65.6 percent) in the first half as the Colonels controlled the paint, scoring 54 points from inside the lane. It was a departure from a team that relies heavily on 3-pointers.

“We start inside-out, Outside-in don’t make sense. We’ve got to flip it some way to find a way to get ourselves going,” Nicholls post player Jamal West said

“I feel like we’re a well-rounded team. We could shoot it from the three at a high level, but if we need to get to the paint and score, kickouts and all that stuff, we can do a lot of things,” Nicholls guard Michael Gray Jr. said.

Nicholls built a lead of as many as 14 points in the first half and only once in the second half did the Colonels allow Houston Christian to get within one possession of the lead.

After Nicholls took an 11-point lead at 52-41 on a three-point play by West, the Huskies began to claw back in the game.

Trailing 60-50, HCU ran off seven points in a row on a 3-pointer by Marcus Greene, two free throws by Jay Alvarez, and a layup by Michael Imariagbe made it 60-57 with 12:02 remaining in the game.

The one-possession margin lasted 20 seconds when Byron Ireland answered with a short jumper in the lane. A basket by Oumar Koureissi off an offensive rebound rebuilt the lead to seven points at 64-57.

“We get complacent sometimes. We just have to remember to keep our foot on their neck at any cost – play defense and get our transition and do what works,” West said.

The game never got closer than two possessions the remainder of the game. Nicholls’ biggest lead down the stretch was 11 points, the last time coming on two free throws by Gray for an 80-69 lead with 2:02 left in the game.

It was one of Gray’s better outings of the season as he finished with 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting and tied for a team high in rebounds with five.

“I think my coaches just gave me all the confidence in the world. My teammates always have been giving me confidence the whole season, and I just put that stuff into play this game,” Gray said.

Ireland, who had a game-high 23 points, hit two free throws with five seconds left in the game to account for the final 10-point margin.

“In the second half, I just wanted to keep getting the paint. I thought we settled for some jump shots that we usually jump up and make. But you’ve got to understand the flow of the game. They (the Huskies) couldn’t really stop us from getting in the paint, so I wanted to dominate the paint tonight,” said Saddler.

Along with Ireland’s 23 points and Gray’s 12, West finished with 16 and Diante Smith 15. Besides Gray, West and Smith had five rebounds each for the Colonels.

Imariagbe had 18 points to lead the Huskies to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Alvarez had 17 for HCU, Green 13, and Dominic Capriotti 12.

Nicholls never trailed in the game.

Leading 6-4, s dunk by Mekhi Collins, along with baskets by West and Gray put Nicholls on top by eight points.

The Colonels’ first 10-point lead came at 20-10 on a dunk by West.

After building a lead of 11 points, the Huskies got as close as three points late in the first half on a fast-break basket by Pierce Bazil, making the score 32-29 with 4:53 left before halftime.

Again, the three-point margin would be as close as the Huskies would get.

The Colonels followed with a 14-3 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 14 points, 46-32 with 54 seconds left in the half. Except for a 3-pointer by Smith and jumper by West, all of the other points in the run for Nicholls were in the paint as the Colonels went on to lead 46-36 at halftime.