Colonels basketball tips off new season on the road

The Nicholls men’s basketball team will begin their season with a couple of road games
before returning to Thibodaux for their home opener. The Colonels will face off against the
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in their season opener on Friday.

In head coach Richie Riley’s first year at the helm of the team last season, the Colonels
finished with a record of 14-17 overall and 7-11 in Conference play. Nicholls ended the season
narrowly missing out on a Southland Conference playoff appearance, with a loss to the
University of New Orleans in the last game of the season holding them out.

The Colonels return two starters, Jahvaughn Powell and Stevie Repichowski, from last
season’s squad. The team will not lack in experience, as eight of 14 players are either seniors or
redshirt seniors. Nine new players have joined the team, six being transfers and three freshmen
that were recruited to the University.

After the Colonel’s opener against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, the team
will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to face off against sixth-ranked Villanova University in
the Wells Fargo Arena, the home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76’ers. Nicholls will hope to have a
repeat of last year, where they went on the road in their first game of the season and defeated
Boston College University, marking the first win over an ACC team in program history.

“Getting to play a team like Villanova, who is sixth in the country, in an arena where the
76’ers play in Philadelphia is an unbelievable experience for our guys,” said Riley. “We go into
every game expecting to win, just like last year when we went to Boston College and we won.
We go into every one and we do whatever we can to win the game.”

Nicholls opens with 13 consecutive non-conference games before they begin Conference
play against Northwestern State University on Dec. 28th. The Colonels will then close out with
18 straight games versus conference opponents.

“We’re excited about our non-conference schedule. You really use your non-conference
schedule to prepare yourself for the conference season because you’re playing in a one-bid
league and you have to win the Southland Tournament to be able to go to the NCAA tournament.
Obviously, that is a goal for our team,” said Riley.