THIBODAUX — After scoring just 25 points in the first half, the Nicholls Colonels exploded for 48 second-half points, shooting 60 percent from the field, to take a 73-66 victory over Southeastern Louisiana, Saturday night at Stopher Gymnasium.

With the win, the Colonels improve to 7-8 on the season and 3-1 in the Southland Conference. The seven wins eclipses last season’s total of six. The Lions drop to 8-7 and 2-2 in conference play.

&#8220It feels great,” commented head coach J.P. Piper. &#8220Our guys responded with a tremendous second half. Despite being down a couple of guys (Djoukeng and Goffney), our kids believed, and I can’t say enough about the play of our young kids.”

Adonis Gray led Nicholls with 20 points. Stefan Blaszczynski, who scored just one point and played only six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, finished with 12 points. Freshman walk-on point guard Justin Payne, who had scored only one point all season, chipped in eight points, while filling in for injured senior starter Cyril Djoukeng. Djoukeng suffered a fractured tooth during practice on Wednesday, and hopes to return next week.

Southeastern was led by Ricky Woods’ 20 points and 11 rebounds. Chris Lee and Terry Bryant added another 15 and 14 points, respectively.

For the night, the Colonels shot 50 percent from the field, to the Lions’ 48 percent. Nicholls was also aided by tremendous free throw shooting, finishing 15-of-18 (83 percent) on the night, including 10-of-11 in the final 4:42 of the game. Southeastern shot 44 percent (7-of 16) from the charity stripe.

In a first half that saw both teams share the lead during the early stages, Southeastern took control over the final 12:22 of the half by going on an 18-10 run, to take a 33-25 lead into the locker room.

The second half proved to be a different story, as the Colonels fell behind quickly by ten points, but erased the deficit by going on a 23-11 run over a span of 9:41, to take a 48-46 lead. The Lions regained the lead 2:14 later on a Bryant jumper, but a Michael Czepil lay up and a three-point basket by Ryan Bathie started a 22-14 run for the Colonels over the final seven minutes, to give Nicholls the victory.

Nicholls returns to action on Thursday when the Colonels travel to Lake Charles, to take on McNeese State. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. at the Lake Charles Civic Center.

Courtesy of colonelsports.com