THIBODAUX, La. – The HCU men's basketball team led by 12 at the half but fell just short, 68-64, in another close finish against Nicholls on Saturday afternoon in Stopher Gym.
Nicholls (15-14, 10-7 SLC) raced out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game before HCU (10-20, 7-10 SLC) embarked on a 16-0 run, holding the Colonels scoreless for nearly nine minutes and taking a 19-12 lead. Nicholls pulled back to within four, 22-18, but HCU responded with a jumper from
Bonke Maring, a three from
Brycen Long and a pair of free throws from
Maks Klanjscek on three consecutive possessions to go up 29-18. The Colonels scored the next four but Klanjscek closed out to the half with a three and a pull-up jumper for a 34-22 Huskies' lead at halftime.
The two teams traded three-pointers to open the second half but over a six minute stretch the Colonels used a 14-3 run to pull within one, 40-39, with 13:28 left to play. A
Pierce Bazil layup again made it a three-point game but Nicholls scored the next four with a Caleb Huffman three making it a 43-42 game.
Over the final 11 minutes of the game, neither team led by more than three until the final second and there were 10 lead changes. A Latrell Jones jumper at 9:08 gave Nicholls a 49-46 lead and less than three minutes later
Tristan Moore completed a four-point play with a made three and a free throw to give the Huskies a 56-53 advantage.
A Long triple at the 3:38 mark put HCU ahead 62-60 and a minute later, Huffman knocked down a three of his own to give the Colonels a 63-62 lead with 2:36 on the clock.
Zach Iyeyemi brought it to 64-63 in HCU's favor with a pair of free throws but Huffman nailed another three on the next possession for a 66-64 Nicholls lead. Klanjscek missed a three on the next HCU possession and after an offensive rebound, a turnover gave the ball back to the Colonels. Nicholls made one-of-two from the foul line on their next possession for a 67-64 game and a Bazil three-point attempt with two seconds on the clock was of target, ending HCU's chances.
The first time HCU and Nicholls played the game had 17 ties and 13 lead changes with an exciting finish with the Huskies falling, 92-91.
Klanjscek finished with 25 points, connecting on 5-of-11 from three, 7-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the foul line. The senior also had five rebounds and four assists.
Sam Hofman set a new career-high with 14 rebounds and also had three assists and a pair of blocked shots. Long ended the day with 13 points, making 4-of-8 from three-point range and dishing out four assists. Long's four made threes gives Long 91 on the season, tying him for the program's single season record for most threes in a season.
The Huskies were undone by 20 turnovers that led to 29 Nicholls points. HCU held a 40-36 advantage on the boards and finished with 13 second chance points to Nicholls' three. The Huskies shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field and 34.4 percent (11-of-32) from three while Nicholls finished shooting 46.4 percent (26-of-56) for the day and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from behind the arc.
The 2022-23 regular season comes to a close on Wednesday, Mar. 1, when the Huskies host Southeastern in Sharp Gym at 7:00 p.m.
