On May 17, the Colonels basketball team set forth on a 10-day trek around Australia to compete against four Australian teams, giving the family and friends of a few Nicholls players a chance to see them in action. Anatoly Bose, Ryan Bathie, Dominic Friend, Mitch Boyce and Michael Czepil, all from Australia, were to travel home to play in front of their home country audience.
Traveling through southeast Australia between Melbourne, Sydney and Sutherland, Nicholls defeated all four of its opponents on the trip with wins against the Kilsyth Cobras (90-85 in overtime), Australian Under-20 team (85-76), Australian Institute of Sports (81-59) and the Sutherland Sharks (73-63).
In the first game against the Cobras, senior Bathie led all Colonels scorers with 22 points as he was one of five players to cross the decade mark. Bathie also led the Colonels in rebounding with 10 as he notched a double-double.
Scoring 10-plus in the victory also were sophomore Bose with 17, sophomore Kellan Carter with 16, senior Justin Payne with 11 and junior Chris Paige with 10.
The second game pitted Nicholls against the Australian U-20 squad that features Colonels signee Cameron McCallum. The Colonels prevailed 85-76 in regulation in the contest to improve to 2-0 in Australia.
Leading all scores in the game was Nicholls’ Friend with a career-best 28 points. Friend lit it up from behind the arc as he made six treys in the victory. Bose continued his scoring tirade with a 26-point effort, while Bathie’s 13 and Paige’s 12 rounded out the Colonels double-digit scorers in the win.
Nicholls continued its success in Australia with an 81-59 decision over the Australian Institute of Sports.
In the game the Colonels’ defense held the team to 59 points. Leading Nicholls on offense were Bose and Friend as they scored 21 points and 15, respectively.
Tallying nine points were seniors Payne, Gil Verner and Bathie, while Carter was next in line with seven. Freshman Josh Johnson put together a six-point night while, Paige contributed five.
Nicholls defeated the Sutherland Sharks 73-63 in Sydney.
In the win the Colonels had five players in double figures with Friend leading the way with 16 points. Following Friend was Paige with 13 and Verner with 12, while Payne and Bose each had 10 to round out double-digit scorers.
Contributing with seven points was Johnson, and Bathie added five.
