THIBODAUX, La. – Southeastern Louisiana sophomore guard Marlain Veal scored a career-high 29 points but Nicholls prevented the Lions from clinching a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament with a 77-71 victory in Stopher Gym Saturday evening.

    Southeastern (15-15, 8-9 Southland) remained in seventh place in the conference, a half-game ahead of Nicholls ((14-15, 7-9 Southland) and Central Arkansas (8-21, 7-9 Southland). The Bears hosted Stephen F. Austin Saturday night. The top eight teams advance to the conference tournament scheduled for March 8-12 in Katy, Texas.

    Veal set another career best with seven 3-pointers in eclipsing his previous best of 28 points set against Tulane in the second game of the season and tied against Central Arkansas this past Wednesday.

    Junior forward James Currington added his second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Southeastern Sophomore forward Moses Greenwood contributed 12 points and seven rebounds. The Lions shot 43.3 percent and out-rebounded Nicholls, 32-30.

    The Colonels had four players in double figures, led by Ja'Dante' Frye with 21 points. Lafayette Rutledge added 18 points, Jahvaughn Powell 16 and Johnathan Bell 11. Bell also had nine assists. Liam Thomas had a team-high eight rebounds to go with eight points and five blocks. Nicholls shot 52.2 percent and hit 12-of-26 3s to overcome 17 turnovers.

    Nicholls nearly reached its entire point total from the previous matchup, a 72-44 Southeastern victory in Hammond on Feb. 1, in taking a 42-35 halftime lead. The Colonels shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) while Southeastern was at 45.5 percent (15-of-33).

    Veal opened the second half with a 3 but Thomas and Stevie Repichowski countered with layups to give Nicholls a 46-38 lead with 18:18 left. Currington hit a short jumper and junior forward Eddy Polanco a pair of free throws to make it 47-42 with 16:47 remaining.

    Southeastern scored only one field goal over the next seven minutes but remained in the game by limiting Nicholls to three over the same span. Veal then hit a 3 and Greenwood followed with a putback to pull the Lions to within 58-55 at the 9:21 mark.

    Veal rattled in a 3 to make it 63-60 with 5:40 remaining. But Frye and Rutledge answered with 3s, giving Nicholls a 69-60 lead with 4:17 left. Southeastern could get no closer than six, on a Veal 3 with 8 seconds left, the rest of the way.

    The Lions took their only lead of the half at 3-2 on a 3 by Polanco at the 18:45 mark. Nicholls went up 14-8 on a Rutledge 3 with 13 minutes left. A pair of Greenwood layups cut the margin to 16-14 with 11:08 remaining.

    Powell knocked down a pair of 3s to push the lead back to 22-16 with 9:34 left. But Veal beat the shot clock with a long 3 from the right wing, then hit another to tie it at 22 with 8:15 remaining. Nicholls regained the lead on a 3 by Rutledge at the 7:48 mark After Greenwood scored off a pass from sophomore guard Dimi Cook, the Colonels went on a 9-0 run over the next 3:07 to take a 36-26 lead on a Bell layup.

    Greenwood took a steal in and Veal again beat the shot clock with a 3 from the left wing to bring Southeastern to within 36-31 with 1:39 left. Powell hit a 3 with 27 seconds remaining, but senior center Dominic Nelson dunked off a pass from junior guard Jabbar Singleton with 16 seconds left to make it a seven-point game at the half.

    Southeastern closes out the 2016-17 regular season at New Orleans Thursday at 7:45 p.m.