Colonels come up big in overtime in 98-94 win at HCU in Southland Conference opener

The 3-pointers finally fell for the Nicholls men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon at Houston Christian University in the Southland Conference opener.

Despite a 2 of 17 shooting performance from 3-point range in the first half, the Nicholls men’s basketball team trailed by only 42-37 at halftime.

By the 14:11 mark of the second half, things appeared dire for the Colonels when HCU’s Tristian Moore hit a 3-pointer of his own to hand Nicholls a 15-point deficit.

Nicholls clawed back down the stretch.

Trailing 58-43 following Moore’s basket, the Colonels went on a 23-8 run to trail 67-66 with 8:43 left in the second half. Nicholls managed to tie the game at 71-71 with 6:23 remaining in the game but never could seem to come up with the go-ahead basket.

HCU eventually rebuilt its lead to eight points before the Colonels rallied once again.

Trailing 84-81, Diante Smith knocked down a 30-footer with 5.2 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.

Smith opened the overtime period with another 3-pointer, giving the Colonels third first lead since a 14-13 edge at the 14:52 mark of the first half.

Nicholls led by as many as five points before the Huskies tied the game with 1:04 left in overtime on a free throw by Bonke Maring with 1:04 left in the game.

It came down to free throws. Smith hit two free throws with 14 seconds left to secure a 98-94 win for the Colonels.

The Colonels handed first-year coach Tevon Saddler his initial Southland Conference win as Nicholls improved to 6-8 overall.

HCU fell to 0-1 in league play and 2-10 overall.

Smith tied Jamal West for scoring honors for Nicholls, each finishing with 23 points. Rob Brown had 16 points and Byron Ireland 14. West pulled 10 rebounds and Smith eight.

Maring and Jay Alvarez each had 22 points for HCU. Marcus Green had 21 points and Michael Imariagbe had 14 points. Imariagbe led the Huskies in rebounds with eight.

A highly competitive first half led to eight ties and five lead changes.

Nicholls never led by more than one point in the half, the last time coming at 14-13 on a driving layup by West.

HCU took a lead it would not relinquish the remainder of the half when a layup by Bonke Maring gave the Huskies a 15-14 edge with 14:37 left in the half.

The Huskies built a lead of as much as seven points on several occasions in the first half, the first time at 31-24 on a dunk by Jay Alvarez at the 6:45 mark.

Trailing 35-31, Nicholls managed to tie the game at 35-35 on a pair of baskets by West.

HCU managed to rebuild the lead back up to five points down the stretch. A layup by Nate Hudson with 20 seconds remaining gave the Huskies a 42-37 halftime edge.

Nicholls shot 14 of 36 (38.9 percent) from the field in the first half, including only 2 of 17 (11.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Colonels ended the game 32 of 70 (45.7 percent) from the field, including 8 of 27 (29.6 percent) from 3-point range.

The Huskies could have had a larger lead at halftime but shot only 7 of 15 from the free-throw line. HCU finished 24 of 38 (63.2 percent) from the free-throw line.

Nicholls out-rebounded HCU 23-19 in the first half, including 9-4 on the offensive end, leading to a 10-4 edge in second-chance points.

The Huskies hit their first three shots of the second half to build their biggest lead at that point in the game of nine points at 48-39 following a layup by Greene. Their biggest lead came at 15 points on Moore’s 3-pointer with 14:11 remaining in regulation.

Nicholls won the game despite holding the lead for only 4:45, but never trailed in overtime.