Written by Charlie Gillingham (Nicholls State Athletics)
| Saturday, 21 November 2009 21:34
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Nicholls State News
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Junior guard/forward was the leading scorer on the night, totaling a career-high 27 points, and the Colonels produced one of their best defensive efforts of the young season. However, it wasn't enough to help the Nicholls State University men's basketball team (0-4) pick up its first win of the season as the Colonels were outlasted 69-58 by the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (1-3) on Saturday night at the World Vision Classic at the University of New Mexico.
In a battle of winless teams, the Colonels had their closest game of the season, limiting a Redhawk squad that lost by just two points to No. 5 Kentucky to 69 points on 48.7 percent shooting. It marked the first time the Colonels held the opposition under 70 points on the year.
Junior forward Maurice Foster joined Bose in double figures with a career-high 14 points while leading Nicholls with a .625 shooting percentage (5-for-8). However, the Redhawks saw a pair of 20-point scorers in Kenny Hayes (23) and Rodney Haddix (21) while Julian Mavunga added 12 points to help the Miami outlast Nicholls.
Early on, Nicholls found itself on top in a back-and-forth first half. The two squads battled through six tie scores and 14 lead changes in the first half. However, Bose totaled 16 of his game-high 27 points in the first to lead all scorers in the opening period, going 5-for-9 from the field, including 2-for-5 from three-point range while connecting on four of six free throws to help the Colonels claim the 33-30 lead at halftime.
As a team, Nicholls outshot Miami 52.2 percent (12-for-23) to 44.4 percent (8-for-18) and claimed a 14-10 rebounding advantage heading into the lockerroom at halftime.
Miami came out strong to open the second half, claiming a 42-37 lead thanks to a 12-4 run over the first eight minutes of the second half. However, Nicholls regrouped with a 10-0 run over a three minute stretch to reclaim at 47-42 lead with 9:40 left in the half.
Miami refused to go away, however, as the Redhawks put together a run of their own to reclaim the lead. Outscoring Nicholls 7-0, the Redhawks went up 49-47 with eight minutes left to play. Miami continued to pull away, going on an 11-6 run the next four minutes and increasing its lead to 60-53 with just under four minutes remaining.
However, Nicholls kept battling, pulling to within four points with 3:17 left as junior guard Kellan Carter converted on one of two free throws and Bose converted two attempts after drawing fouls while in the double bonus.
As the two-minute mark approached, the Colonels found themselves down 63-58. After a missed Colonel three-pointer, Miami called timeout with 1:27 left. On the ensuing possession, Nicholls rebounded a missed Redhawk three, but Miami picked up a steal and converted on a fast break layup to go ahead 65-58 with under a minute remaining. The Redhawks were able to convert on a pair of free throws and break the Colonels' press on the next two possessions en route to the 69-58 final.
The Colonels will return to action when they conclude their time at the Basketball Travelers World Vision Classic by facing in-state rival Louisiana Tech for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff central time. Nicholls is 2-14 against the Bulldogs all-time. La Tech will face host New Mexico on Saturday night, taking a 2-0 record into the contest. The Bulldogs won their opening contest of the World Vision Classic, beating Miami on Friday night.
NOTES
The Colonels' match up with the Redhawks was the first for the Colonels against a current member of the Mid America Conference.
Saturday night marked the halfway point of a stretch of eight consecutive games away from home to open the season for the Colonels. The matchup with the Redhawks was the fourth in that series. Nicholls will stay on the road through next week when the Colonels head to Anchorage, Alaska for the 2009 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.
Nicholls will play ten contests away from home during the non-conference season. From Nov. 13 through Dec. 21, the Colonels will log 11,060 miles of round trip travel by air and ground, enough to circumnavigate the globe at the equator 1.4 times.
