After dropping the first of three home games to Northwestern on Thursday, the Colonels fell once again, this time to the Louisiana-Monroe Indians 74-59. The Colonels are now 8-16 overall and 4-9 in conference, while the Indians are 10-15, 6-7 in conference. “I’m very disappointed; we started out strong, but as our shooting broke down so did our defense,” head coach J.P Piper said after the game.
Nicholls started the game keeping pace with the Indians with no lead larger than three points, until the Colonels jumped out to a 15-8 lead with 13 minutes left in the first half. However, within three minutes ULM would cut the lead down with a three pointer from James Perkins and Gary Robinson lay-up.
After that five-point swing by the Indians, both teams would trade the lead throughout the half with the Colonels going into the locker room ahead 34-30. Nicholls shot 41 percent in the first half going 12 of 29 from the field and 4 of 13 from the three-point line. Louisiana-Monroe shot 38 percent in the half while shooting 25 percent in three pointers.
The second half would not be so kind to the Colonels as the Indians hot shooting would prove to be too much for Nicholls to handle. A three pointer by Tony Hooper would cut the lead to 34-33 in the first minute of the second half, but a Czepil lay-up would put the lead back to three.
A Stefan Blaszczynski lay-up put the score at 38-33 and gave the Colonels its largest lead of the half at five points. ULM would not waiver, cutting the Colonel lead to only three points or tying the game for the next seven minutes.
With the game tied at 49, the Indians took the lead with a RoShon Jacobs jumper with 10:36 remaining in the ballgame. Adonis Gray had the hot hand in the second half for Nicholls, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Indian offense.
ULM never relinquished the lead to the Colonels, which grew to a game high 17 points. The Indians shot 40 percent in the second half along with going 6-11 from the three point line, while the Colonels shot a low 25 percent, going 1-7 at the three-point line.
Gray had a career high in points and led all scorers with 27 points followed by James Dixon who had 10. The Indians had three players scoring in double figures with Hooper leading the way with 25 points, behind him was Robinson with 18 and Perkins with 15.
“I don’t have an explanation for why some of the shots weren’t going in,” Piper said. “You just got to make shots, make shots and play defense.”
There are only three games remaining for the Colonels this season and Piper believes his team still has a chance to get in the tournament. “We still have a chance to find ourselves sneaking in, but we have to win,” he said. “We have to regroup.”
Nicholls is home again on the 23rd when they host Texas-Arlington at 6:30 p.m. in Stopher Gymnasium.
