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March 19, 2016
The Nicholls State University men’s basketball team fell victim to the magic that sometimes happens in March.
The Colonels lost to Sam Houston State 60-59 on Thursday night in the Quarterfinals of the Southland Conference Tournament – a game that had the wildest final 15 seconds that fans can ever see.
Nicholls thought it had the game won with less than 10 seconds left when T.J. Carpenter made a deep 3-pointer to put them up 59-58.
But the Bearkats had other plans, as Dakarai Henderson drove the lane and flipped in a floater over Nicholls center Liam Thomas as time expired to give Sam Houston a 61-60 victory.
The loss ends the Colonels’ season with an 11-23 record.
Nicholls coach J.P. Piper said he’s disappointed in the result, but is proud of how hard his team fought throughout the Southland Conference Tournament.
A day before being eliminated by Sam Houston, the Colonels beat McNeese State in double overtime.
“We never quit battling. We never quit fighting,” Piper said. “Then their kid makes an incredible shot at the buzzer. I hoped we would match their toughness coming off of last night. I was worried about fatigue, but my guys played like champions.”
The game was a thriller.
The Bearkats led 38-34 after
the first half, using red-hot shooting to wow the crowd Ln Katy, Texas.
Sam Houston State shot 12-of-23 in the half, including a blistering 5-of-7 from behind the 3-point line.
But the Colonels were able to stay close, because they were hot, as well. Nicholls was 13-of-22 in the first half, Including four 3-balls of their own.
In the second half, the pace of play slowed – in part because the Colonels’ defense became dominant.
Sam Houston scored just 22 points in the final 20 minutes, shooting just 8-of-28 from the field.
Piper said it was as good as his team has been defensively all season.
Senior big man Kyle Caudill agreed, adding that the team played with an enhanced level of physicality.
A 7-footer, Caudill scored 10 points.
“We held them to 28 percent shooting in the second half,” Piper said. “That’s probably one of the best 20-minute stretches of defense we’ve played all year.”
“Everyone in the game did a great job of being tough and not backing down from anything, really,” Caudill added. “I think we did everything great defensively.”
But they came up one stop short.
It looked like Nicholls had lost the game when Aurimas Majauskas made a jumper to put Sam Houston up two with 17 seconds to play.
But then Carpenter made some March Madness happen with a long, fadeaway three that gave the Colonels the one-point lead.
Without any timeouts, Sam Houston came down the floor and sliced through the defense, scoring the win on the buzzer-beating layup for the win.
Video replay shows Piper attempting to call a timeout right after the 3-point basket is scored.
But because Sam Houston got the ball in-bounds so quickly, officials did not see the timeout call, and play was continued.
They lost the next night to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the semifinals.
“I don’t know if anyone really deserved to lose that game,” Sam Houston coach Jason Hooten said. “I thought both teams played really hard, but didn’t shoot the ball extremely well. I’m just really proud of our team.”
For Piper, the tone was a bit more somber, as the game marked the end to both the team’s season and also the careers of seniors Caudill, Schane Rillieux and T.J. Carpenter.
The Colonels struggled heavily to start the season while battling top-flight competition. Those troubles became worse when the team opened Southland included a 3-12 – struggles that endangered the team’s hopes at reaching the SLC Tourney.
But a three-game winning streak to close the season, combined with an opening-round Southland win made the tough loss sting a little more.
Piper said the Colonels will miss the senior class, which isn’t big, but consists of three contributing members of the team.
But Nicholls does return a talented core of contributors, including E.D. White graduate Ja’Dante’ Frye, athletic wing Adam Ward, shooter Luka Kamber and All-Conference big man Liam Thomas.
Many analysts predict that the Colonels will be among the best returning teams in the league next spring.
Piper said during an interview in the middle of the season that he agrees, He thinks the future is bright for Nicholls State University men’s basketball.
With those guys coming back, it’s hard to argue that the Colonels may be back to Katy again next season.
“We have some senior leadership, but we have an awful lot of talented players coming back and are excited about what’s going to happen here in the future.”
Rillieux agreed, adding that he thinks the team’s younger players are going to be ready for the challenge.
“It’s going to be their time, so they have to rise up and do it,” Rillieux said. “We believe in those guys, and we fully expect them to keep this thing going in the right direction.”
‘We never quit battling. … My guys played like champions.’
J.P. Piper
Nicholls men’s basketball coach
