Nicholls men defeat Demons but fail to get help from Islanders in battle for SLC’s No. 2 spot

The Nicholls men’s basketball team took care of business on Monday night with a 68-62 win at Northwestern State.

Unfortunately for the Colonels, so too did the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders.

Heading into Monday’s game, Nicholls was 11-5 and in third place in the Southland Conference, while Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was 12-4 and in second place behind regular-season champion McNeese State.

The Colonels needed to win their final two games and for the Islanders to lose for a chance to garner second place in the conference and receive a two-round bye straight to the semifinals in the league’s postseason tournament.

With Corpus Christi’s win at home 73-60 over the University of New Orleans, the Colonels have to settle for a single-round bye in the tournament.

Nicholls won its game with Northwestern State in workman-like fashion. The Colonels held a lead of as many as eight points in the first half and 10 in the second. While the Demons managed to chip away, the Colonels would not relinquish the lead in moving to 12-5 in the SLC and 17-13 overall.

The Colonels knocked down nine 3-pointers in the game, compared to five for Northwestern State. The Demons (7-10 in the SLC, 9-21 overall) were 0 of 3 from distance in the second half.

Nicholls was 17 of 22 from the free-throw line. Northwestern State scored 19 points from the free-throw line but missed nine attempts.

The Colonels opened the second half in a similar fashion to the opening 20 minutes.

Nicholls scored the first seven points of the game to grab the early lead and got off to a 7-2 start to the second half to equal its biggest lead since the opening period.

Diante Smith hit a jumper and a 3-pointer, while Jamal West scored on a layup for the Colonels’ seven points. The lone basket for the Demons came on a backdoor layup by Cliff Davis.

It was a similar start for the Demons as well. Northwestern State opened the game 1 of 12 from the field, and 3 of 11 to begin the second half.

Nicholls took a double-digit lead for the first time in the game when a 3-pointer by Rob Brown gave the Colonels a 52-42 advantage with 12:51 left in the game.

The Demons were 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) in the second half with 6:46 left in the game but found themselves down only three points when Chase Forte hit a free throw to make it 55-52.

Nicholls could not deliver a knockout punch on Northwestern State but never gave up the lead. The closest the Demons would get late in the second half was four points on two free throws by Braelon Bush to make the score 63-59 with 1:16 left in the game.

Brown led all scorers with 21 points, including hitting 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Smith had 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Byron Ireland chipped in 12 points.

Bush had 15 points to pace the Demons. Davis added 11 points, and Justin Wilson 10. Jimel Lane led Northwestern State with eight rebounds.

The Colonels shot 45 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range. The Demons shot 33 percent from both from the field and from distance.

Nicholls scored the first seven points of the game, starting with a goaltending call against the Demons on a shot by Ireland, a floater by Smith, and a Smith 3-pointer.

The Colonels’ biggest lead of the first half was eight points when Ireland’s shot off the glass while driving the lane gave Nicholls an 11-3 edge at the 13:38 mark of the opening half.

Despite going only 1 of 12 from the field to open the game – an 8.3 percent clip – the Demons found themselves down 11-5 before Bush hit a 3-pointer and a layup as Northwestern State pulled to within one point at the 11:43 mark of the first half.

Trailing 20-16, the Demons went on a 7-0 run on a dunk by Lane, a 3-pointer by Davis, and a put-back by Lane to give Northwestern a 23-20 lead with 5:37 remaining in the half.

There were two ties and three lead changes the remaining of the opening half.

Nicholls was trailing 34-32 when Ireland hit a 3-pointer and Quinn Strander followed with a layup after stealing the inbounds pass from the Demons with three seconds remaining to give the Colonels a 37-34 halftime edge.

Ireland’s late 3-pointer gave him seven points in the first half. Brown had 11 points in the opening 20 minutes for Nicholls and Smith 10. Smith also pulled down six rebounds in the opening half.