Feb. 9, 2010

Feb. 10 Game Notes vs. Sam Houston State

THIBODAUX - The Nicholls State University men's basketball team (7-15, 3-6 Southland Conference) returns to Stopher Gym on Wednesday night looking to snap a three-game losing streak. However, the Colonels will have their hands full if they hope to get back on the winning track as Nicholls squares off against the Southland's top team.

Nicholls will be looking to rebound from a 71-46 loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday when they welcome the Sam Houston State Bearkats (16-5, 8-0 Southland) to Thibodaux.

The Colonels head into Wednesday 0.5 games out of the final Southland Conference Tournament spot. A victory over SHSU would help the Colonels keep pace in a crowded conference race; Nicholls remains just 3.0 games behind first place Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference East Division. However, the Colonels will be facing a stern challenge on Wednesday night when they tip off against the Bearkats.

Sam Houston State enters Wednesday night's contest with a perfect league record. Sam Houston State leads the Southland with a 78.8 team scoring average and has beaten it's first eight conference opponents by an average of 12.2 points per game.

The Bearkats also own impressive non-conference victories over Oral Roberts (71-65 on Nov. 24), Rider (80-68 on Nov. 25), Auburn (107-89 on Dec. 20) and Florida International (93-63 on Dec. 22) and Sam Houston State nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year before falling at then-No. 4 Kentucky 102-92 on Nov. 19.

SHSU is led by Corey Allmond (16.2 points/game) and Gilberto Clavell (15.8 points/game), who respectively rank fourth and fifth in the league in scoring average. Allmond also leads the conference with 65 three-pointers and Clavell ranks fourth with a .540 shooting percentage.

The Colonels will try to counter with junior guard/forward Anatoly Bose. Bose, the second leading scorer in the conference, ranks 21st nationally with a 21.0 point/game average. The Sydney, Australia native has accounted for 31.9 percent of the Colonels scoring and has averaged 28.4 points per game in his last five games.

Tipoff between the Colonels and Bearkats is set for 6:30 p.m. at Stopher Gym. The game will be broadcast on KLRZ 100.3 FM and KLEB 1600 AM. A streaming video webcast will be made available courtesy of www.ThibodauxOnline.com, and live stats will be available at www.geauxcolonels.com.

Following Wednesday's contest, the Colonels will hit the road to take on in state conference rival at Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday.