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HOUSTON – HBU took a 34-33 lead into halftime but Nicholls used a couple of big runs in the second half to pull away and defeat the Huskies, 73-61, in a Southland Conference matchup on Saturday night in Sharp Gym.
 
HBU (6-12, 2-3 SLC) got off to a slow start, allowing Nicholls (13-9, 3-2 SLC) to score the first six points of the game while the Huskies took nearly four minutes to get on the board. The Colonels extended their lead to 10, 12-2, at the 13:07 mark before the HBU offense came alive and a pair of Khristion Courseault threes helped the Huskies claw back to a 10-14 deficit.
 
Nicholls then scored the next five to go back ahead by nine before HBU responded with a 13-2 run capped by Courseault's third three-pointer of the half which put the Huskies ahead, 23-21, with 5:00 on the clock. A couple of minutes later, a Darius Lee fast break layup gave HBU a 28-25 lead. HBU maintained a lead until the 1:40 mark when a Ty Gordon layup put Nicholls back ahead and started a stretch of six lead changes with another Lee layup just ahead of the buzzer sending the Huskies into the intermission with a 34-33 lead.
 
The second half again started slow for the Huskies with HBU shooting 1-of-4 from the floor, 0-of-2 from the foul line and committing three turnovers in the first 4:34 of the half while Nicholls went 6-of-8 and lead 45-36 at the first media timeout. A Lee basket at 14:04 brought the score to 47-40 in Nicholls' favor but HBU wouldn't score for the next five-plus minutes and the Colonels went on a 15-0 run to lead by 20. The Huskies fought back to within 11 but couldn't get any closer down the stretch.
 
HBU shot 37.1 percent (23-of-62) for the game but struggled in the second half, connecting on just 30.3 percent (10-of-33) after hitting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the floor in the first half, including 5-of-12 from three. The Colonels finished the night shooting 48.4 percent (30-of-62) from the floor. Nicholls held a 41-39 advantage on the boards and forced HBU into 17 turnovers while committing 13.
 
Lee led all players with 22 points, making 9-of-16 from the field, and added four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sam Hofman just missed out on a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down nine rebounds while Zach Iyeyemi grabbed a season-high 10 boards and finished with eight points. Courseault finished with 10 points.
 
The Huskies' four-game homestand continues on Thursday, Feb. 3, when they host Northwestern State for the first meeting of the season with the Demons inside Sharp Gym at 7:00 p.m. as the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team.