THIBODAUX, La. – Despite Scooter Williams Jr. scoring 22 points off the bench, the East Texas A&M University men's basketball team was beaten by Nicholls on Saturday afternoon via a score of 81-65 at Stopher Gymnasium.
 
The Lions fell behind 8-2 to start the game, but used a 10-0 run to take a 19-18 lead at the 11:39 mark of the first half. East Texas A&M had a lead as big as seven in the first half and led 37-33 at the half.
 
At the 14:43 mark of the second half, the Lions led 45-40, but the Colonels 47-46 took a lead with 13:07 to play. Nicholls went on a 13-2 run to take a 68-55 lead, its largest in the game to that point. The Lions were held to just 12 points in the final 10:46 of the game, while the Colonels scored 26 during that stretch.
 
The Lions have lost two in a row and fall to 3-21 on the season and 1-12 in Southland Conference action, while Nicholls is 15-9 overall, 9-4 in the SLC this year, and 6-1 win over East Texas A&M in the last three seasons.
 
Williams Jr. (Chattanooga, Tenn.) tallied 22 points on 6 for 10 shooting, hitting five three-pointers and shooting 5 for 6 at the line, while KC Ugwuakazi (Boston, Mass.) added 15 points and seven rebounds. Josh Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.) had team-best nine rebounds and scored six points off the bench.
 
The Colonels' Michael Gray Jr. scored 20 points, coming off the bench, to lead Nicholls, while both Rob Brown III and Sincere Malone scored 14 points each. Nicholls had the 46-31 advantage in rebounds, scoring 22 second chance points off 20 offensive rebounds.

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The Lions close out the trip to Louisiana at 6 p.m. on Monday at McNeese.