Box Score

KATY, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana fell, 71-64, to Nicholls State Wednesday in the first round of the 2014 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the Merrell Center.

Southeastern (12-18) and Nicholls (14-14) were tied, 35-35, at halftime. Both teams took small leads early in the second half, but the score was once again knotted up with 14:43 to play.

The Colonels grabbed the lead for good, 46-43, with 11:28 to play in the contest on a three-pointer by Luke Doyle. Nicholls would stretch its lead to eight, but the Lions cut the deficit to one, 52-51, with 5:33 remaining on a layup by Antonnio Benton.

Nicholls expanded its lead to nine, on an 8-0 run, aided by a pair of Southeastern turnovers and a technical foul. The Lions closed within four points on three separate occasions during the final minutes of play, but could never close the gap.

Dantrell Thomas led all scorers with 27 points and dished out six assists for the Colonels. T.J. Carpenter added 13 points and Liam Thomas grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Nicholls converted 23-of-57 shots (40.4 percent) from the floor and was 7-of-22 from three-point range (31.8 percent). The Colonels out-rebounded Southeastern, 40-35.

Guard Dre Evans led three Lion seniors in double-figure scoring. Evans poured in 15 points to pace Southeastern. Plaquemine, La., native Jeffery Ricard chipped in 11 points and Benton added another 10 points, finishing one rebound shy of a double-double.

Southeastern converted 21-of-53 shots (39.6 percent) from the floor, shot 6-of-20 from three-point range (30 percent) and made 16-of-24 free throws (66.7 percent).

Evans finished the season with the fourth-best, single-season three point shooting percentage (.443) in school history. Benton wrapped up his career with 66 blocked shots, the ninth most in school history.


SOUTHEASTERN LA. (12-18)
Evans, Dre 5-11 3-3 15; Ricard, Jeffery 4-11 2-3 11; Benton, Antonnio 4-6 2-5 10; Hawkins, JaMichael 3-8 1-2 9; Upson, Devonte 3-4 1-3 7; Chiera, Julian 1-4 4-4 6; Filmore, Joshua 1-4 2-2 5; Ochie, Onochie 0-5 1-2 1; Johnson, Forrest 0-0 0-0 0; Evans, Antonio 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 16-24 64.

NICHOLLS STATE (14-14)
Thomas, Dantrell 7-12 11-15 27; Carpenter, T.J. 4-11 2-2 13; Doyle, Luke 3-8 0-0 7; Torres, Amin 2-7 1-2 6; Rillieux, Shane 2-4 1-3 5; Thomas, Liam 2-3 1-2 5; Smith, Jeremy 1-7 2-2 4; Frye, J'Dante 2-3 0-0 4; McBeath, Sam 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-57 18-26 71.

Southeastern La...........   35   29  -   64
Nicholls State................   35   36  -   71

3-point goals--Southeastern La. 6-20 (Hawkins, JaMichael 2-4; Evans, Dre 2-5; Filmore, Joshua 1-4; Ricard, Jeffery 1-3; Ochie, Onochie 0-2; Chiera, Julian 0-2), Nicholls State 7-22 (Carpenter, T.J. 3-9; Thomas, Dantrell 2-2; Torres, Amin 1-4; Doyle, Luke 1-3; McBeath, Sam 0-1; Smith, Jeremy 0-1; Rillieux, Shane 0-2). Fouled out--Southeastern La.-None, Nicholls State-Smith, Jeremy. Rebounds--Southeastern La. 35 (Benton, Antonnio 9), Nicholls State 40 (Thomas, Liam 12). Assists--Southeastern La. 5 (Benton, Antonnio 2; Filmore, Joshua 2), Nicholls State 15 (Thomas, Dantrell 6). Total fouls--Southeastern La. 20, Nicholls State 22. Technical fouls--Southeastern La.-Upson, Devonte; TEAM, Nicholls State-None. SLU #2 called for technical foul at 14:21 of first half. SLU bench called for technical foul at 4:17 of second half. A-1009