THIBODAUX, La. – Troy Green went 5-of-8 from the field for a career-high 18 points but the University of New Orleans (14-14, 11-6 Southland) could not overcome ball handling issues in the 78-64 loss to Nicholls State University (20-9, 14-2 Southland) Saturday evening at Broussard Court on Christopher Stopher Gymnasium.
Green connected on 8-of-10 free throws and
Scott Plaisance led all players with three blocks and three steals.
Bryson Robinson scored 13 points off the bench – nine from three-point range – and
Makur Puou matched his career-high with his second consecutive 10 rebound game.
FIRST HALF
The Colonel defense came out looking for the steal and Nicholls took an early 6-0 lead with 18:01 to go as head coach
Mark Slessinger looked to regroup and called a timeout. In the early moments, Nicholls came up with two steals and a blocked shot.
On the other side of the break,
Tyren Harrison drained a corner triple and off the
Diontae Champion steal, Green tied the game at 6 with a trey of his own.
Robinson corralled a loose ball and drained a triple to put New Orleans in front 16-14 with less than 12:00 to go. Plaisance's second block sent us into the under-12 media with the Blue and Silver leading by two.
The 14-0 UNO run was capped off by
Ezekiel Charles' three that made it 21-14 UNO. Nicholls was scoreless for nearly eight minutes (16:02-8:22) and the Privateer defense forced seven turnovers in the span.
Nicholls went into the break leading 36-32 but despite the 14 UNO turnovers, the Privateers shot 50.0 percent from the floor to limit the damage. With four first-half blocks – three by Plaisance – and two steals apiece for Scottie P and Champion, New Orleans forced 10 Nicholls miscues.
Green was 4-for-6 for a game-high nine points and Puou pulled down six rebounds. The Privateers held Roddy Peters, one of the conference's leading scorers to zero points in the first half and four turnovers in 10 minutes of action.
SECOND HALF
Trading points early on, the Privateers regained the lead 44-42 at the 15:44 after
Michael Zeno found BRob on the wing for three.
Green continued to drive to the hoop amongst the trees and drained both from free throws to tie the game at 48 with 10:44 remaining.
The Colonels were able to go on a run that propelled the home club to a 61-51 lead with just under seven minutes left and went on to defeat UNO 78-64.
INSIDE THE BOX
Jahvaughn Powell had eight steals and a game-high 22 points – 18 from three-point range. Tevon Saddler added 19 points and six rebounds and Peters was limited to nine points but added seven assists.
NEXT UP
The Privateers end the regular season at home versus Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be on the Southland Digital Network and Eleven Sports.
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