Nicholls men's basketball moves on in SLC Tournament win over TAMU-Commence

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved

LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA (March 10, 2024) Nicholls State University's men's basketball team showed true grit and determination in their dominant 72-51 victory over No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Southland Conference Tournament. With this impressive win, Nicholls (19-13) now sets its sights on the semifinals where they'll square off against No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

The Colonels' defense was the star of the show once again, holding the Lions (13-20) to a mere 32 percent shooting. This stellar defensive effort limited A&M-Commerce to just 51 points, matching their lowest scoring output against a league opponent all season.

On the offensive end, Nicholls was firing on all cylinders, shooting an impressive 56 percent from the field. Leading the charge was Robert Brown III, who lit up the scoreboard with 18 points, including 5 of 6 from three-point range. Diante Smith also made his mark, contributing 14 points while shooting 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. Not to be outdone, Quinn Strander had a career night with 11 points on a perfect 4 of 4 shooting, along with five assists and two steals.

Nicholls set the tone early, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and never looking back. They maintained a double-digit lead for much of the game, thanks to their efficient offense and suffocating defense.

In addition to their offensive prowess, the Colonels dominated the boards, outrebounding the Lions by 12.