![Nicholls' Michael Gray Jr. [#9] celebrating after a made shot](https://thenichollsworth.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/MikeGray-Southland-Tournament-1200x675.jpg)
LAKE CHARLES – The Nicholls State University men’s basketball team advanced to the 2024 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship with an 81-73 overtime victory over No. 2 seed Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi on March 12.
Nicholls faces the No.1 seed McNeese State University in the championship on March 13 at 4 p.m.
The winner secures the conference’s automatic bid in the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Nicholls head coach Tevon Saddler said his team is ready to face McNeese for the third time this season.
“We’re right where we need to be,” Saddler said. “We’re ready for the 40 minutes tomorrow.”
The overtime win saw four Colonels score in double-digits, two going for 20-plus.
Michael Gray Jr. led Nicholls in scoring with 23 points off the bench, including a three-pointer in overtime that helped seal the victory for Nicholls.
Gray recorded nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Diante Smith scored 22 points, including 18 in the first half, and added three steals.
Byron Ireland and Robert Brown III were the two other Colonels in double-digits, scoring 16 and 12 points.
Nicholls seeks its first tournament championship since 1998 but will have to deal with a McNeese team
that is 29-3 overall and swept Nicholls in the regular season.
The game in Lake Charles on March 13 at 4 p.m. will be broadcast on ESPN 2 to a national audience.
