The Nicholls basketball team got its first-ever win over Lamar University Monday night in Stopher Gym with a 60-53 victory. Nicholls continued its quest to host a first-round game in the Southland Conference Tournament. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will host a first-round game.
The win was the Colonels third straight, which puts them in a tie for third place in the SLC with Sam Houston State and the University of Texas-Arlington. All three teams have a conference mark of 10-7.
“We’ve finally beat a team at the lower end of the standings, which has been tough to do for us this season,” Colonel coach Rickey Broussard, said.
The Colonels, 12-12 overall, led by 17 points, found themselves up by just one at the 4:04 mark of the second half.
From there, the Colonels got clutch shots from the “Big Three” consisting of Chris Bacon, Arthur Haralson and Marlon Green to help preserve the win.
After field goals from Bacon and Haralson, Green connected with a 3-pointer from the corner with 36 seconds to go that put the Colonels up by seven and sealed the win.
“That was a huge shot,” Broussard said. “He shot it confidently, and it gave us a little breathing room finishing the game.”
Green said he was confident that one of his 3-pointers would fall, as he attempted five on the evening.
“My threes were going in and out, so the coaches were telling me that one would fall sooner or later,” Green said. “The one that fell though, was the one that counted the most.”
Green finished the game with nine points.
Haralson and Bacon excelled, as the tandem combined to score 29 points and hauled in 19 rebounds. Haralson had a team-high 15 points.
Bacon had a double-double, posting 14 points and pulling down 11 boards. Five of Bacon’s rebounds came on the offensive glass.
“As a team, we managed to grab 20 offensive rebounds, which is a lot,” Broussard said. “Chris Bacon especially went to the glass hard tonight.”
“Art did a good job of keeping (Lamar’s) Lewis Arline to about half of what his season average is in rebounding,” Broussard said.
In the first half, the Cardinals double-teamed Haralson, which managed to open the perimeter shot for the Colonels.
“Lamar was doubling me during the game, so I just told my teammates when they doubled down, I’m going to kick it out so bury it,” Haralson said.
The two Colonels who benefited most from the Lamar double team were point guards Sean Hughley and Shane Beaudean.
Hughley and Beaudean each connected on two threes each in the first half, as Hughley scored 10 points on the night and Beaudean posted eight.
“Coach (Broussard) has been working me in a lot lately, and I’ve been having a lot of confidence in my game,” Beaudean said. “Tonight, I was able to hit my open shots whenever the big men kicked the ball out.”
Nicholls 82 Sam Houston State 69
The Colonels had five players reach double-digits in scoring, in their 13-point victory against Sam Houston State Saturday night in Stopher Gym.
Haralson led the Colonels with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Hughley was 4-of-7 from the field and finished with 15 points.
The three other Colonels who scored in double-digits were Bacon with 12, Green with 11 and Earnest Porter with 10.
The Colonels have three games remaining before the SLC Tournament begins.
Nicholls will be playing for a shot at the No. 2 seed in the SLC Tournament, when they hit the road for games at Southeastern Louisiana University on Feb. 24, at Texas San-Antonio on March 1 and at Southwest Texas March 3.
