LAKE CHARLES – Southland Conference leader scorer Ty Gordon scored 24 points while Manny Littles added 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Nicholls to an 81-71 Southland Conference win over McNeese in front of 1,734 fans in the Legacy Center on Thursday night and handing the Cowboys their first home loss of the season.
McNeese fell to 8-13 overall and 2-2 in league play while Nicholls evened its conference record to 2-2 while improving to 12-9 on the season.
The Cowboys were led by Kellon Taylor's 13 points followed by Harwin Francois who tied a career-high with four three-pointers made. Christian Shumate scored 10 points. Zach Scott, who entered the game leading the league in three-point shooting in conference games only, was held to six points due to early foul trouble keeping him on the bench.
Nicholls scored the game's first nine points but McNeese rallied back with a 24-6 run over a five-minute span to take a 24-15 lead with 9:57 to play in the first half. A double-technical foul against Nicholls' Littles and McNeese's Myles Lewis with 6:04 to play in the half and McNeese leading 34-26, seemingly changed the course of the game.
"I think it was a tale of two technical fouls," said head coach John Aiken. "We stressed all week in practice that it was going to be a physical game and that they (Nicholls) were going to come in here and try to force that kind of action. We weren't very disciplined at all tonight."
Last Thursday, Nicholls and Northwestern State combined for 11 technical fouls, six by the Colonels.
After the double-tech between the Cowboys and Colonels, Nicholls scored nine straight and ended the half on an 18-5 run to lead 44-39 at the half.
The Colonels' lead grew to 49-42 three-and-a-half minutes into the second half but the Cowboys pulled to within 51-48 following a Francois 3 with 13:51 to play. Gordon answered quickly with a three of his own for Nicholls and after McNeese closed the gap to 56-52 after a Lewis layup at the 10:49 mark, the Colonels went on a 12-2 run to take a 68-54 lead following a Devante Carter jumper. McNeese wasn't able to get a threat going the rest of the way.
The Cowboys shot 42 percent for the game (22 for 52) but hit just 37 percent in the second half while Nicholls sank 52 percent in the final 20 minutes.
"We got good looks, we just couldn't get them to fall," said Aiken. "We made just 15 of 34 of our two-point shots."
The Cowboys and Colonels will meet again on February 17 in Thibodaux.
Next up, McNeese will host New Orleans on Sunday at 5 in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. The Privateers (4-0 SLC) are the only unbeaten team remaining in league play.
