Nov. 12, 2007

THIBODAUX, La. - After getting their feet wet in the 2007-08 season opener at Florida State, the Colonels return to the friendly confines of Stopher Gym for their home opener against Huston-Tillotson at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. The game will be preceded by the Lady Colonels season opener versus Dillard at 5:30 p.m.

"We learned a lot about ourselves at Florida State, and I think that our fans will be happy to see the product that we are putting on the floor this season," said head coach J.P. Piper. "I know that the players are excited about playing at home this early in the season."

In the 2006-07 campaign, the Colonels did not play at home in the regular season until 10 games in. This year's schedule has Nicholls slated to play three non-conference games on their home floor with Huston-Tillotson being the first of the three.

The Colonels (0-1) lost their season opener, 81-58, to the Seminoles, but did out rebound and out score Florida State's bench in the defeat. Nicholls only trailed by seven points at half time, but 19 turnovers in the second half led to the Colonels demise.

Junior forward Ryan Bathie led all Nicholls scorers with 14 points, while senior guard Adonis Gray was the only other Colonel in double figures for the game with 11. It was the first collegiate game for freshman Dominic Friend, true freshman Bakari Lewis, Kellan Carter, and Anatoly Bose, while Friend led all of newcomers with eight points, four rebounds, and a team high two blocks in the loss.

Also suiting up for the first time since redshirting all of last season were sophomores Michael Czepil and Chris Paige. Czepil and Paige both started for the Colonels against Florida State, while Czepil only played 16 minutes to Paige's 18.

Huston-Tillotson (0-1) is coming off of a 101-81 loss at Texas State to open up their season despite outscoring Texas State 49-37 in the second half. The Rams, who finished last season 7-24 overall and 7-11 in the Red River Athletic Conference (NAIA), had two double digit scorers in the game, and were led by senior K.C. Asomugha with 24 points and 11 rebounds. The only other player in double figures was junior Titus Brothers with 11 points.

Tip-off is for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcasted on 105.9 FM KBZE and on 640 AM KTIB by Brennan Matherne. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.kbze.com, and be followed by way of live stats on www.geauxcolonels.com, clicking on the basketball schedule link and selecting the game.

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