By Thad Angelloz
Sports Writer
Having time off can sometimes helps a team, but at the same time it can also have a negative effect.
Such was the case for the Colonels, who fell to Southland Conference opponent Southeastern Louisiana University 64-55 before a crowd of 1,347 at Stopher Gym Saturday night.
Entering Saturday’s game Nicholls (7-7, 5-2) was coming off a five-day hiatus, whereas its counterpart, Southeastern, (6-9, 3-3) had played just two days earlier, defeating the University of Texas-San Antonio 55-52.
The Colonels, who fell behind by as much as 16 points in the second half, struggled throughout. Nicholls head coach Rickey Broussard said he did not have a definitive explanation for the way his team played.
“I think our preparation for the game was good,” Broussard said. “I just think when it comes down to it, SLU was more physical. They took it to us. They were very aggressive. They went inside on us. They posted up strong ,and really pushed us around inside.”
Broussard said his team’s lack of perimeter play when his inside players were being heavily defended factored into the Colonels defeat.
“They double teamed us and triple teamed us. We didn’t hit our outside shots, and we didn’t move the ball out of double teams,” Broussard said of his team that went 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc.
“We just didn’t come together with the outside people hitting shots. We tried to do other things to not get the double teams, and we got that done, but then we couldn’t capitalize because of missed shots,” Broussard said.
While the Colonels were held in check in the second half, they did manage to take several leads during the first half.
Nicholls jumped out 3-0 after Sean Hughley hit a three-pointer with 16:04 remaining in the half.
After Hughley’s basket, the game went back-and-forth with neither team taking a decisive lead until the closing stages of the half.
With the score standing at 19-18 in the Colonels favor, Nicholls went on a 9-2 run to take a 28-20 lead at the 1:52 mark.
During that run, Reggie Williams accounted for four Colonel points, while Marlon Green tallied the other five to give Nicholls its largest lead at eight.
Although the Colonels built an eight-point lead, Southeastern answered by scoring the final seven points of the half to make it a 28-27 game at intermission.
The final Lion basket came at the buzzer as Derrick Franklin, who led his team in scoring with 15 points, hit a jumper as time expired.
In the second half, Nicholls possessed the lead on only two occasions before Southeastern pulled away.
After Arthur Haralson hit a free throw to give the Colonels their last lead at 31-30 at the 18:18 mark, Southeastern went on a 10-0 run to take a 40-31 lead with 15:34 remaining in regulation.
During the run, Franklin scored six of the Lions’ points.
After the Colonels cut the deficit to four points at 40-36 with 14:16 to go, Southeastern outscored the Colonels 21-9 over the course of the next 13 minutes to take its largest lead of 16 at 61-45 with 1:19 showing on the clock.
Leading the way in the scoring column for Nicholls was Haralson, as he tallied 16 points.
The Colonels will return to action when they travel to Beaumont, Texas, to take on SLC opponent Lamar Saturday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
Season recap
The Colonels opened their season on Nov. 17, taking on Tulane University in New Orleans. In that contest, Nicholls fell to the Green Wave 85-73.
After falling to Tulane, Nicholls bounced back 12 days later against Loyola in Thibodaux, as they beat the Wolfpack 89-41 to move to 1-1 on the season. After defeating the Wolfpack, Nicholls dropped two contests versus Louisiana Tech and Georgetown.
With its record standing at 1-3, Nicholls came back home and got on the winning track on Dec. 9 against Troy State University by posting a 81-77 victory.
Next up for the Colonels was their first battle against a SLC foe in the University of Louisiana-Monroe.
In that game, which was played in the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, the Colonels posted a 79-66 win over the Indians to move to 3-3 overall and 1-0 in conference play.
After posting its first conference win, Nicholls faced two non-conference opponents in the University of New Orleans and LSU, dropping both. On Dec. 28, the Colonels started the swing through their conference schedule.
First up for the Colonels was Stephen F. Austin, who they beat 58-47. With the win, the Colonels record moved to 4-5 and 2-0. Two days later the Colonels faced Texas-Arlington, posting a 59-58 win to record their third straight victory in conference action.
In game 12, Nicholls dropped its first conference contest, as they were defeated by McNeese State University 80-67 in Lake Charles.
In their next two games, the Colonels posted a pair of victories over conference opponents the University of Texas-San Antonio and Southwest Texas State University.