The Nicholls men’s basketball team broke a seven-game losing streak on the road against McNeese State, winning in overtime 74-71. For the past three games, the Colonels faced all overtimes and came up short on all of them.

During the first half of play, the Colonels fell early 14-5, but managed to stay down by six points. Junior Ryan Bathie was benched early the first half of the game, and in the second half came back to put up 19 points on the scoreboard.

The Colonels would have a brush with fate and shoot 56 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from downtown. This is the second time they would overcome a half-time deficit this season. To pull off the victory, Nicholls put up nine points from the free-throw line.

The first overtime game came when Nicholls hosted Central Arkansas in which the Colonels fell to the bears 98-96 in double-overtime.

The Bears played the same way the Colonels did against Stephen F. Austin when junior forward Ryan Bathie made a lay-up to defeat the Lumberjacks at the buzzer. Except, Bears leading scorer Nate Bowie made the lay up. Head coach J.P. Piper was proud the way the team played.

“We made free throws but didn’t make them when it counted. I thought we played tough and physical, especially with our dribble penetration,” Piper said. “Our guys played their hearts out tonight.”

In the early second quarter, Nicholls led by 11 points with solid shooting from the team. But with 16 lead changes, they failed to win the battle at home.

The Colonels had problems shutting down Bowie – who had a career-high 39 points – by shooting 10-19 from the floor and seven of 12 from the three-ball range. Guard York Sims cashed in 13 points.

The second overtime game came five days later when the Colonels hosted the Lamar Cardinals.

The same fate followed as the Colonels allowed 14 points in overtime.

Eleven points came from the free throw line. The Colonels then showed no threat by shooting 2-6 from the floor and 0-2 from three-point arc.

The final score was 72-68.

Even with the loss, Piper said his team played well.

“I thought we played great as a team and that both teams really competed tonight,” Piper said.

One of the game highlights, junior Ryan Bathie was honored for breaking Robert Lee’s career three-pointer mark.

The Colonels have the opportunity to win two in a row when they host Texas A&M Corpus Christi tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Stopher Gym.