Despite rallying late to overcome huge deficits at home against McNeese and on the road at Southeastern, the Colonels basketball team could not pull out victories.
For consecutive contests, the Colonels (5-11, 3-6 SLC) outscored both McNeese and Southeastern 67-59 total in the second half.
“We had a better second half than first half. I told the guys that we are pretty good of digging ourselves out of a hole, but unfortunately we are just letting that hole get a little too deep and then we start digging,” Ricky Blanton, head basketball coach, said.
“It will be nice for us to kind of jump out and let some other people play catch-up.”McNeese 75, Nicholls 70
Last Thursday in Stopher Gym, the Colonels fell to the defending Southland Conference champions, McNeese, 75-70.
The Colonels got off to a slow start by trailing McNeese (9-7, 5-4 SLC) 9-0 early in the first half.
By shooting 53 percent from the field in the first half, McNeese controlled the game by going into halftime with a 37-24 lead.
Although the Colonels shot 43 percent from the field in the first half, they turned the ball over nine times and was just 1-5 from the three-point line.
“In the first half, we came out a little sloppy, and we didn’t have the intensity like the second half,” junior forward Anthony Wilcher, said.
“I think that once we put two halves together, we will be alright.”
Throughout the game, McNeese used a full-court defensive press that placed pressure in the Colonels backcourt.
“They thought we were pressuring to get steals, but we were pressuring to force them a little bit. I don’t think they figured it out until ten minutes left in the game,” McNeese senior guard Jason Coleman, said.
“And once they figured it out, they started getting fouls and lay-ups.”
Trailing 67-53 with 3:55 left in the game, the Colonels used a hustle defense and quick three-point shooting by senior forward Damien Lennon and sophomore forward Eric James to cut the lead to 73-70 with 14 seconds remaining.
McNeese added two free throws to end the game and the Colonels comeback quest.
“Nicholls kids battled and scraped. You got to give them credit because they didn’t quit,” McNeese coach Tic Price, said.
The Colonels were led offensively by senior forward Earnest Porter, who scored 22 points with eight rebounds. Lennon and James scored 16 points a piece and Wilcher scored eight with six rebounds.
For the contest, the Colonels shot 47 percent from the field, 54 percent from the three-point line and 72 percent from the free throw line.
Even though losing the rebounding battle 34-30 to the Colonels, McNeese had nine block shots thanks to 6’11 senior forward Adrian Johnson.
“We out-rebounded them, but they were able to score easy buckets because of their size.
Southeastern 58, Nicholls 54
In a contest on the road against Southeastern (5-11, 3-6 SLC), the Colonels overcame a 17 point second half deficit to fall late 58-54 last Saturday.
Leading 34-24 at halftime, Southeastern opened the second half on a 14-4 run. Despite foul trouble, the Colonels went on a 21-7 run to pull with four with 1:27 left.
Southeastern was able to put the game away after taking several trips to the free-throw line.
For the contest, the Colonels shot 36 percent from the field, 44 percent from the three-point line, 61 percent from the free throw line and committed eight turnovers.
Southeastern won the rebounding battle over the Colonels 38-28
Lennon and James led the Colonels offensively with 13 points each, Wilcher had eight and Porter scored seven.
In a press release from Sports Information, Blanton said the Colonels had several opportunities to pull away with a victory.
“I thought coming into the game if we could score 60-65 points we could have come away with the win, but we just didn’t make shots in the first half.”
The Colonels return to action tonight as they take on Southwest Texas at 7:45 p.m. in Stopher Gym.