Box Score UNO-NSU Box Score
Post-Game Press Conferences - Cook & Slessinger
NEW ORLEANS – Six different members of the New Orleans roster reached double-figures as the Privateers snapped a three-game skid with a 79-76 victory over Nicholls State at Lakefront Arena on Wednesday night.
Corey Blake led the UNO (3-5) contingent of players in double-figures with 13 points.
Lovell Cook and
Cory Dixon posted matching 12-point efforts with
Isaac Mack hitting a career-high with 11 points.
Tradarrius McPhearson and
Eddie Denard rounded out the group with 10 points apiece, career-best efforts for the duo.
The Privateers led by a game-high 11 points with 8:57 remaining in the contest before NSU (1-5) threatened down the stretch. Eight straight points by the Colonels pulled the guests within three with 7:00 left.
UNO fought off NSU before the contest was knotted at 73-all on a Fred Hunter lay-up with 2:59 remaining.
The Hunter basket was the Colonels' last from the field in the game. While NSU missed three of their free throws in the final minute of play, UNO received free throws from Blake and
Kevin Hill to go ahead 79-76 with nine seconds to go.
With an opportunity to knot the contest in the final seconds, the Colonels turned the ball over with Mack coming up with the steal to ice the game for the Privateers.
UNO gained control of the scoring after an early 2-0 deficit, shooting 62.5 percent from the field in the first half and making six of the first 10 shots attempted in order to jump out to a 15-8 lead.
NSU responded with seven straight points to tie the game at 15-all before the Privateers seized control of the lead through the end of the opening half.
Denard and Blake proved crucial for UNO during the 20 minutes, each scoring 10 points with a Cook three-pointer just before the buzzer sending the Privateers into the half ahead 41-36.
Hunter scored a career-high 36 points for the Colonels, who also received 14 points from T.J. Carpenter.
The Privateers will now hit the road for a stretch of six straight games beginning on Monday, Dec. 17 against Southern Illinois slated for a 7:05 p.m. start. UNO's next home contest is Jan. 12 against Champion Baptist.
NOTES
-
Eddie Denard became the eighth player on the UNO roster to score in double-figures this season. Tradarrius McPhearson and Isaac Mack followed in the second half, becoming the ninth and 10th players to hit the mark. Last season, a school-record 13 players scored in double-figures for the Privateers.
-
UNO ended a three-game losing streak against NSU with the victory. It was Colonels' head coach J.P. Piper's first lost at the helm of the program against the Privateers in four games.
-
UNO improved to 13-5 all-time against NSU and 3-0 at Lakefront Arena. The Privateers are now 8-1 in the Crescent City against the Colonels.
-
With UNO's bench outscoring NSU by a 26-11 count, the Privateer reserves improved to 7-0-1 against their counterparts this season.
-
The Privateers' 41 first half points eclipsed the most on the season for the squad, topping the 39 netted in the previous game against Duquesne.
