It’s crunch time for Nicholls, other Southland Conference contenders

It’s crunch time for the Nicholls men’s basketball team and all the other contenders in the Southland Conference.

The Colonels play on the road for the final three games of the regular season, starting with a clash with McNeese State at 4 p.m. Saturday in Lake Charles.

Nicholls then plays at Northwestern State on Monday and closes at Southeastern Louisiana next Saturday.

McNeese is 14-1 going into Saturday’s action. Nicholls and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are tied for second at 11-4. Lamar and Southeastern are 9-6.

Barring a complete collapse, no one is going to catch the Cowboys. The second spot is very much in play, with the runner-up in the SLC getting a two-game bye straight to the semifinals of the conference tournament, just like the regular-season champion.

That has the positioning for second place still very much in flux.

Even with a win over McNeese, Nicholls likely won’t catch the Cowboys. A win over McNeese would be a big leg up for the Colonels. A loss keeps the competition tight but wouldn’t necessarily eliminate Nicholls from the second spot due to numerous scenarios concerning the other contenders in the league.

“Every game is magnified,” Nicholls coach Tevon Saddler said. “You just want to take care of them one at a time. We’ve got to be able to go 1-0 on Saturday. Every game is magnified this time of the year, and we need them all.”

Nicholls (16-12) goes into the game at McNeese coming off a 92-82 win over Incarnate Word in which Colonel sharpshooters Rob Brown and Michael Gray combined to go 14 of 14 from 3-point distance.

Nicholls finished with only six turnovers, very different from the 21 the Colonels committed in a 74-47 loss to McNeese two weeks ago in Thibodaux.

“I think we turned the ball over 20-plus times. First and foremost, we’ve got to value the ball and then let everything else fall where it falls,” said Saddler.

Not that McNeese needed it, but the Colonels gave the Cowboys a lot of help in the first encounter. In the first half alone, the Colonels turned the ball over 13 times, giving McNeese a 14-1 edge in points off turnovers.

Over the entire 40 minutes, the Colonels turned the ball over 21 times, leading to a 23-3 edge for McNeese in points off turnovers.

Nicholls was held to 27 points below its season average in conference play. Colonels who routinely reach double figures in scoring were held in check.

Diante Smith managed 13 points for Nicholls. At the time, entered the game second in the SLC at 17 points per outing. Brown finished with 10 points, five below his average at the time.

Jamal West was held scoreless, and Byron Ireland was limited to five points.

Even with the 13 turnovers and McNeese’s 14-1 edge in points off of turnovers, the Colonels were down only seven points at halftime.

The Cowboys then pulled away in the second half. The largest lead for McNeese was 29 points.

Christian Shumate led McNeese in scoring in the game with 12 points, while also pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.

For the outcome to be different on Saturday, defensive rebounding will be a key for the Colonels, according to Saddler.

“We’ve got to do a good job on the glass keeping Christian off the glass. He’s an elite offensive rebounder. So just make him miss, but once we make him miss, we’ve got to get the ball,” the Nicholls coach said.

McNeese leads the league in scoring offense and defense. The Cowboys are averaging 79 points per game, while yielding only 62.7

Northwestern State goes into the week 7-8 in the Southland and 9-19 overall.

The Colonels defeated Northwestern State 73-66 earlier this season in Thibodaux.

In the earlier matchup, the score was tied 35-35 entering the second half and the Colonels and Demons traded baskets early.

With Nicholls leading 40-39, Ireland drove for a basket. West stole the ball on the Demons’ next possession and Ireland hit a 3-pointer as part of a run that would give the Colonels an eight-point advantage at 47-39.

From that point on, the Colonels never allowed Northwestern State to make it any closer than a two-possession game as Nicholls went on for the win.

The Demons feature three double-figure scorers.

Cliff Davis is averaging 13.5 points per game to lead the team. Chase Forte is averaging 11.2 points, and Braelon Bush 10.9.

Justin Wilson leads the team in rebounding, pulling down an average of 5.6 per contest.

Davis scored a game-high 25 points and Forte 17 in the first game against Nicholls. The duo scored the bulk of the points for the Demons in the first half, but Forte was limited to five points over the final 20 minutes.