Mobile Men Fall By 4 At NCAA Div-I Nicholls State

THIBODAUX, La-- The University of Mobile men's basketball team started the 2011-12 season with a 69-73 exhibition loss at NCAA Div-I Nicholls State late Thursday evening.

Nicholls out-shot Mobile 47% to 41% from the field and hit 7-of-19 3-pointers, compared to 3-of-14 for Mobile. Both teams hit 18 free throws in the contest, and turnovers offered no advantage either way.

The Rams did control the boards, with a 46-32 advantage on the glass and a 13-6 advantage in offensive boards. Newcomer Antonio Hester grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds and added 12 points for the double-double.

Ji Kimbrough led the Rams with 17 points, Christian Salinas added 12 points and Matthew Turner added 10 points on a 5-for-5 effort from the floor.

Trevon Lewis led Nicholls with a game-high 18 points, and five different Colonels hit atleast one 3-pointer.

The Rams scored first in the game on a Salinas layup and held the lead until a Nicholls 3-pointer tied it 12-12 at the 13:19 mark. The teams traded leads the rest of the half and the Colonels held a 33-29 lead with 2:52 remaining. Mobile closed the half with an 8-3 run to take a 37-36 lead into the break on a 3-pointer from Salinas with 12 seconds remaining.

That momentum carried over into the second half as the Rams ran out to a 50-43 lead with 15:42 left in the game thanks to 7 points from Kimbrough to start the half.

But, from there, the Rams' offense went cold and Nicholls used an 11-0 run to take a 54-50 lead with 12:44 left, as the Rams missed all three shots and had three turnovers. The Rams would never reclaim the lead from there. Mobile pulled back within 55-54, but the Colonels used an 8-2 run to regain a cusion thanks to a pair of 3-balls.

Mobile will open the regular season Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 pm when they host Texas College.