Dantrell Thomas scored 22 points and Trevon Lewis came off the bench for 17 as Nicholls State beat Central Arkansas 80-70 on Wednesday night.
Jeremy Smith and Sam McBeth grabbed 10 rebounds apiece as Nicholls State (9-17, 5-8 Southland Conference) won the battle of the boards 40-28. Smith also had 14 points for the Colonels.
Nicholls State led majority of the first half and took a 30-28 lead into halftime after shooting just 11 of 28 during the period. The Colonels, however, shot 59.4 percent (19 of 32) in the second half, pushing their lead to 13, 66-53, behind a Lewis layup.
Nicholls State scored 17 points off 16 Central Arkansas turnovers and outscored the Bears 52-16 in the paint.
Jarvis Garner led the Bears (7-19, 2-12) with 28 and Joe Harris chipped in with 17, but no other Central Arkansas player scored more than eight points.
