Frye leads with 21, Nicholls edges S.E. Louisiana 77-71 (Feb 25, 2017)

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) Ja'Dante' Frye scored 21 points on near-perfect shooting and Nicholls edged Southeast Louisiana 77-71 on Saturday.

Frye was 6 of 7 from the floor - including 3 of 3 from deep - and 6 of 6 from the line for the Colonels (14-15, 7-9 Southland Conference). Lafayette Rutledge added 18 points, Jahvaughn Powell had 16 points and nine assists and Johnathan Bell had 11 points and four steals.

Nicholls led 42-35 at the break and a Rutledge 3-pointer helped stretch it to 50-42 early in the second half. Southeast Louisiana cut it to 63-60 late on Marlain Veal's 3 with 5:40 left, but Frye and Rutledge sank back-to-back 3-pointers after that to push the Colonels' lead to 69-60 with 4:17 to play and the Lions (15-15, 8-9) never threatened from there on.

Veal scored a career-high 29 points for Southeast Louisiana.