The Nicholls Colonels fell to the UTRGV Vaqueros 92-72 at Stopher Gymnasium on Monday, Feb. 9.

The Colonels (10-15, 9-7 Southland Conference) and Vaqueros (14-11, 10-6 SLC) began the game battling. The Vaqueros took an early lead before seven straight for Sincere Malone gave the Colonels their only lead of the night at 10-8. 

The Vaqueros went on a run to reclaim the lead that they held onto, with a halftime score of 55-30. Despite the score board three players were shaping up to have stellar performances.

Malone finished the first half with nine points, three assists and three rebounds. Zee Hamoda had seven points and one assist. Trae English had three points and two steals.

In the second half, the Colonels came out strong despite the deficit. Malone, Hamoda and Grant Sanders combined for eight quick points out of the break. Hamoda continued with the hot hand, dropping nine points in the second half.

English continued his tenacity on defense to come up with another three steals in the second half. English credited his intensity to “trying to do anything to get back in the game.”

After a subpar offensive first half, English exploded in the second scoring 17 to lead the Colonels with 20 points.

“It’s just my ‘no quit’ mentality, trying to do whatever I can whether that’s passing, scoring or defending anything I can do,” English said.

The Colonels were unable to overcome the deficit, ultimately losing the game. However the team can build from the strong second half and learn from the loss, according to Malone.

Malone said, “When we come out like we did in the second half, not a lot of teams can withstand our pressure and our consistency.” He encouraged the team to “stay tuned and stay together.”

English agreed adding, “If we come out like we did in that second half, each game, and not just expect people to lay down we should be good from here on out.”

Reasons for the Loss

• Interior Dominance

UTRGV doubled the Colonels rebounds with 38 to their 19, including 10 offensive rebounds that turned into 20 second chance points. UTRGV outscored the Colonels by 20 in the paint with 48, dominating the paint generated easy buckets for the Vaqueros and spaced the floor for shooters.

• Shooting Percentage

The Colonels shot 44.1% from the field, 28.6% from three and an abysmal 54.5% on free throws. The Colonels shooting struggles particularly in the first half caused them to fall behind substantially and their better performance in the second half was not enough to overcome it. UTRGV shot 60.9% from the field, 42.9% from three and 85% on free throws, all significantly better than the Colonels.

Notable Performances

• Sincere Malone scored 13 points, six rebounds and a team leading four assists.
• Grant Sanders scored 11 points, on a team best 80% shooting, got two steals and one rebound and assist each.
• Trae English scored 20 points, had two assists and five steals.
• Zee Hamoda scored 16 points, grabbed two rebounds, had two assists and two steals.