THIBODAUX, La. _ The Nicholls Colonels only had to wait five days to avenge a 23-point loss, beating the University of Central Arkansas Bears 96-89 in overtime on Thursday night in Southland Conference action at Stopher Gymnasium.
The Colonels got a three-pointer from Jahvaughn Powell at the buzzer to tie the game at 80-80 and send it to overtime. Nicholls (12-14, 5-8) then outscored UCA (8-19, 7-7) 16-9 in the extra period to break the Bears' four-game winning streak and improve to 9-1 at home at Stopher this season.
UCA, which beat Nicholls 106-83 last Saturday at the Farris Center, had a 79-77 lead with 5.6 seconds left and the league's top free throw shooter Jordan Howard going to the line for a one-and-one. Howard, who scored 33 points against Nicholls on Saturday and 22 more on Thursday, made the front end but missed the second free throw. Powell then drove the length of the court and hit from the top of the key, the 12th three-pointer of the night for the Colonels, who finished 14 of 31 from beyond the arc.
"At the last time out that Nicholls took, we went through the scenarios,' said a disappointed UCA head coach Russ Pennell after the loss. "And the thing that frustrates me... I've seen really good free throw shooters miss free throws. They just do. So the scenario was if he missed the first, we play it straight. If he makes one of two, we're going to foul. If he makes them both, you can play it straight, it doesn't matter.
"That's why we took everyone off the lane and put four guys across the court. Basically we made a wall, and the first guy that tries to get through the wall, you foul him. And we didn't do it. And then I knew, we were so deflated, I couldn't get them back up in the overtime. That happens sometimes, a team that hits a big shot carries the momentum over, especially the home team.
"And it's frustrating because we did have a chance to win. And I didn't think we were on our 'A' game but I thought we played good enough to win.'
The Colonels were 4 of 5 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, in the overtime period while the Bears were just 2 of 7.
Both teams were red-hot from the perimeter again as they were in the first meeting last Saturday when they combined to make 35 three-pointers. This time Nicholls went 14 of 31 (45.2 percent) and UCA was 12 of 33 (36.4). Howard and senior Derreck Brooks both made five threes for the Bears, while Stevie Repichowski was 6 of 9 for the Colonels.
UCA finished with five players in double figures, led by Brooks with 25 points _ 23 in the second half _ and Howard with 22. Sophomore Thatch Unruh had 12 points off the bench and sophomore Tanner Schmit had 10 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Darraja Parnell added 10 points and 6 rebounds for UCA.
The Bears struggled with their shooting touch the entire game, hitting just 37.3 percent from the field on a season-high 83 shot attempts. The Colonels hit 50.8 percent overall and also had five players in double figures, led by Repichowski with 22 points and Liam Thomas with 18.
The Bears trailed by as much as 10 points in the early going as Nicholls' 7-foot center Thomas scored seven of the Colonels first nine points. But the Bears finally starting clicking on offense and put together a 17-4 run, starting at the 13:00 mark, and eventually took a 26-22 lead with 5:40 to play.
The Colonels, who entered the game with an 8-1 home record, then scored the next 11 points to go back in front by six. Howard hit his second three-pointer of the half and Brooks scored his first points of the game on a layup to make it a 33-31 deficit with 1:30 to play in the half. After another three-pointer from Nicholls, Thatch Unruh scored for the Bears to set the halftime margin at 36-33.
The three-point barrage accelerated in the second half as Nicholls made 8 of 16 and UCA 8 of 13 from beyond the arc. There were 10 lead changes and six ties after halftime and neither team led by more than six points in the second half and overtime.
The Bears continue their road trip against New Orleans at 4 p.m. Saturday at Lakefront Arena.
