Box Score THIBODAUX, La. -- Nicholls State guard Fred Hunter made his collegiate debut a good one, as the freshman had 19 points and a team-best six rebounds to lead the Colonels to a 79-62 win over the Privateers on Wednesday evening at Stopher Gym.
Ryan Bathie also had 19 points to help the Colonels (1-0) win their season opener for the first time since 1999. Nicholls had four scorers in double figures, as Anatoly Bose had 13 points and Kyle Ford chipped in 11.
Darrian McKinstry had a game-high 28 points for the Privateers (0-2), and
T.J. Worley tallied 20 points. But the Privateers were hampered by 21 turnovers, while the rest of the Privateer lineup combined for 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
Nicholls took advantage of 15 UNO turnovers in the first half to take a 41-26 halftime lead, but the Privateers fought back thanks to McKinstry.
The junior point guard had 22 points in the final half, and his basket with 6:18 to play closed the deficit to 59-56.
Nicholls, however, rallied with a 10-0 spurt to get the lead back to double figures. Nicholls outscored UNO 20-6 in the final six minutes in defeating UNO for the second straight season.
The Colonels scored 27 points off the UNO miscues on the night.
"Nicholls pressured us and the turnovers were the difference in the game.," said UNO head coach
Joe Pasternack. "I thought defensively we played five minutes here, five minutes there, but we didn't play defense for 40 minutes."
Nicholls shot 52 percent from the field. UNO, which shot 44 percent, did out-rebounded the Colonels 32-26. The Nicholls bench outscored UNO 27-12.
The Privateers were without leading returning scorer
Kyndall Dykes, who missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle.
UNO will continue a three-game road trip with a 12 p.m. CT contest at Savannah State on Saturday.
