HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana out-scored Nicholls 47-18 in the second half in pulling away to a 72-44 Southland Conference victory Wednesday night in the University Center.

    Southeastern (13-10, 6-4 Southland) held Nicholls (11-12, 4-6 Southland) to 14 field goals and 29.8 percent (14-of-47) from the field, including 21.7 percent (5-of-23) in the second half. The Colonels shot 16 percent (4-of-25) on 3-pointers, 7.1 percent (1-of-14) in the final 20 minutes. The 44 points were the fewest allowed by Southeastern in a Southland game since a 50-43 win over Nicholls on March 5, 2011.

    Junior forward Davon Hayes scored 20 points – his fifth straight game in double figures - as the Lions (13-10, 6-4 Southland) snapped a two-game losing streak. Sophomore forward Moses Greenwood had his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, scoring in double figures for the 13^th time in the past 14 games. Junior forward Eddy Polanco, earning his third start of the season, added 11 points while tying a career-high with nine rebounds.

    Southeastern had 49 rebounds, its highest total since getting 49 in a 101-65 win over Loyola (New Orleans) on Dec. 1, 2015. The Lions held the Colonels to 21 boards, five on the offensive end, in holding a 24-0 edge in second-chance points.

    "I thought there two keys statistics and it was something we emphasized," Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner said of the field goal defensive percentage and rebounds. "We went back over the last few weeks and we saw a trend defensively where early in the year we were winning a lot of games holding teams under 33 percent and recently it's been 47, 48, 50 percent and that's not winning basketball. It's been a big emphasis for us. And even though we went to a smaller lineup tonight, I thought our guys did a great job on the boards. To have a 49-21 advantage against a team that has a 7-footer was significant when our tallest player was 6-5. We out-scored them in the second half, 47-18, beat them 49-21 on the boards and held them to 29.8 percent. I'm pleased with those things." 

    Johnathan Bell led Nicholls with 12 points. Jahvaughn Powell added 11 points while Ja'Dante Frye had a team-high five rebounds.

    Southeastern scored the first 12 points of the second half to erase a 26-25 halftime deficit. Greenwood scored on a putback and Singleton, Polanco and Hayes followed with 3s to give the Lions a 37-26 lead at the 16:52 mark.

    Nicholls got its first points of the half on a Bell layup with 16:35 left. But Hayes countered with consecutive 3s and Veal added another to extend the Southeastern lead to 47-30 at the 12:40 mark. The run grew to 30-8 on two Polanco free throws with 9:36 left, giving the Lions a 55-34 advantage.

    Nicholls got no closer than 18 the rest of the way, getting just two field goals in the final 10 minutes. Powell had the Colonels' final field goal on a jumper with 6:01 left as Southeastern closed the game on an 11-1 run.

    Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as Nicholls took a 26-25 lead into the break. Southeastern shot 36 percent from the field and turned the ball over nine times while the Colonels shot 37.5 percent with six turnovers. The Lions grabbed 21 rebounds in the half, led by Greenwood with six. There were eight lead changes and four ties in the half.

    Southeastern took a 12-10 lead on a Greenwood layup with 12:20 left in the half. Nicholls came back to go up 14-12 on a Frye layup at the 9:20 mark. Freshman guard Michael Corchiani ended a 5:03 scoreless drought for the Lions with a 3 with 7:17 remaining. Senior center Dominic Nelson followed with a putback of a Corchiani missed 3 to give the Lions a 17-14 lead with 6:16 left.

    After Nicholls tied it on three Frye free throws, Hayes hit a pair of free throws and Nelson scored on a putback for a 21-17 lead at the 4:01 mark. The teams traded the lead twice more before the Colonels went up 24-23 on a Bell jumper with 2:22 left.

    Southeastern opens a two-game road trip Saturday at Central Arkansas. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
SOUTHEASTERN LA. 72, NICHOLLS 44
NICHOLLS (11-12, 4-6 SLC)
Bell, Johnathan 5-10 2-2 12; Powell, Jahvaughn 3-9 4-4 11; Rutledge, Lafayette 1-9 3-3 6; Repichowski, Stevie 2-5 0-0 6; Ward, Adam 2-2 0-2 4; Frye, Ja'Dante' 1-8 2-2 4; Thomas, Liam 0-1 1-4 1; Young, Zach 0-0 0-0 0; O'Neal, Tre 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 14-47 12-17 44.
SOUTHEASTERN LA. (13-10, 6-4 SLC)
Hayes, Davon 5-15 6-6 20; Greenwood, Moses 7-11 0-0 14; Polanco, Eddy 3-8 3-4 11; Veal, Marlain 2-7 3-4 9; Cook, Dimi 1-2 2-2 5; Nelson, Dominic 2-3 1-3 5; Singleton, Jabbar 1-3 0-0 3; Corchiani, Michael 1-2 0-0 3;
Currington, James 1-2 0-0 2; Brock, George 0-2 0-0 0; Mejia, Chris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-55 15-19 72.
Nicholls......................   26   18  -   44
Southeastern La...............   25   47  -   72
3-point goals--Nicholls 4-25 (Repichowski, Stevie 2-5; Rutledge, Lafayette 1-9; Powell, Jahvaughn 1-5; O'Neal, Tre 0-2; Frye, Ja'Dante' 0-3; Bell, Johnathan 0-1), Southeastern La. 11-25 (Hayes, Davon 4-10; Veal, Marlain 2-4; Polanco, Eddy 2-4; Corchiani, Michael 1-2; Cook, Dimi 1-1; Singleton, Jabbar 1-3; Brock, George 0-1). Fouled out--Nicholls-Powell, Jahvaughn; Bell, Johnathan, Southeastern La.-None. Rebounds--Nicholls 21 (Frye, Ja'Dante' 5), Southeastern La. 49 (Greenwood, Moses 13). Assists--Nicholls 8 (Thomas, Liam 3), Southeastern La. 15 (Polanco, Eddy 5). Total fouls--Nicholls 23, Southeastern La. 19. Technical fouls--Nicholls-Powell, Jahvaughn, Southeastern La.-Nelson, Dominic. A-1125