BEAUMONT, Texas – Nicholls State's Trae English scored a basket in traffic with one second left propelling the Colonels to a 53-52 victory spoiling Senior Night at the Neches Federal Credit Union Arena at the Montagne Center. The defensive battle saw nine lead changes and three ties with the majority of those coming in the second half.
 
The defenses stole the show for both teams as Lamar (12-17/7-13 SLC) shot just 35.7 while holding the Colonels to a 22-of-61 (.361) performance. LU also limited Nicholls to less than 18 percent from long range.
 
The two schools committed 28 turnovers (14 each) and both teams did a strong job of preventing the other school from taking advantage. LU scored just 12 points on the Nicholls' mistakes while the Colonels could muster only 11.
 
Lamar was led in scoring by senior Rob Lee Jr. and sophomore Braden East. Both players came off the bench to score 10 points while East recorded his 13^th double-double of the season (11 rebounds).
 
After building a brief nine-point lead early in the contest, neither team could manage more than a two-possession lead in the second half. The Cardinals trailed by four with 1:42 remaining before scoring the next five points to take a one-point lead with 24 seconds remaining.
 
On Nicholls' final possession English drove to the basket and reversed a layup but the ball got wedged between the rim and the backboard, but the possession arrow was in Nicholls' favor. That gave the ball back to Nicholls with 4.8 seconds remaining and English made the final attempt count.
 
The Cardinals now have to put this one behind them and get focused on UIW. The game against the league's other Cardinals will tip off at 4 p.m. from McDermott Arena.