Colonels secure No. 3 seed in SLC tourney with emphatic 80-54 win over Southeastern

The Nicholls men’s basketball showed from the start its intent on securing the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Southland Conference postseason tournament.

Nicholls, which never trailed in the contest, scored the first five points of the game on its way to a 10-point halftime lead and then blew away the Lions at the start of the second half on its way to an 80-54 win Thursday night in Hammond.

The win allowed the Colonels to end the regular season 13-5 in the Southland and 18-13 overall. Southeastern dropped to 10-8 in the SLC and 15-16 overall.

Nicholls already had secured a first-round bye in the Southland postseason tournament which begins Sunday in Lake Charles. Had the Colonels lost to SLU, Nicholls would have finished in a tie for third place with Lamar, but with the Cardinals having beaten Nicholls twice during the season, they would have secured the No. 3 seed.

The Colonels made sure that wasn’t going to happen. Leading 44-34 at halftime, Nicholls scored the first 12 points of the second half to put the game away five minutes into the period.

Six of the points came on a pair of inside baskets by Jamal West and a West jumper. Michael Gray and Rob Brown each hit 3-pointers and the Colonels had a 22-point lead at 56-34.

The Lions didn’t score their first basket of the second half until a 3-pointer by Avery Wilson at the 14:38 mark.

That made the Nicholls lead 19 points and from then point on, it was just a matter of the final score.

The biggest lead of the game for Nicholls was 28 points in the closing moments of the game.

West had a double-double for Nicholls with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Brown finished with 20 points. Byron Ireland had 10 points and six assists.

Roger McFarlane led SLU with 12 points and six rebounds. Wilson finished with 10 points.

Nicholls was 30 of 65 (46.2 percent) from the field, and 12 of 34 (35.3 percent) from 3-point range.

SLU was 18 of 51 (35.3 percent) from the field and connected on only of 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) from 3-point distance.

The Colonels had a 32-20 advantage over Southeastern Louisiana on points in the paint. Nicholls had 18 assists to only five for the Lions. The Colonels committed only seven turnovers, compared to 15 for SLU.

Three Colonels reached double-figure scoring in the first 20 minutes of play as Nicholls built a 44-34 halftime lead.

Brown led the way for the sharpshooting Colonels, scoring 14 points, hitting 4 of 7 from 3-point range. West had 12 points and five rebounds. Ireland chipped in 10 points in the first half.

The Colonels were 15 of 29 (51.7) from the field in the first half, including 7 of 16 (43.8 percent) from 3-point range. At one point, Nicholls was shooting above 50 percent from distance in the opening period.

McFarlane led SLU with 12 points in the first half with the Lions hitting 12 of 29 shots (41.4 percent) from the field, including 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) from 3-point range.

Nicholls scored the first five points of the game and never trailed in the opening half. SLU tied the game 9-9 on a 3-pointer by McFarlane at the 16:17 mark but was never able to take the lead.

A 3-pointer by Diante Smith gave Nicholls its biggest lead of the first half at 13 points – a 42-29 edge at the 4:42 mark of the first half.

Roscoe Eastmond hit a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the half that allowed the Lions to make it a 10-point game at halftime.