Nicholls St. 75, McNeese St. 63

3/8/2008 9:51 PM

THIBODAUX, La. (AP) -Adonis Gray, Nicholls State's lone senior, had a game-high 19 points, including three electrifying dunks, as the Colonels beat McNeese State 75-63 in a Southland Conference game on Saturday.

Gray, who was presented with a framed jersey before the game, finished his career at Nicholls at No. 15 on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,221 points and 433 rebounds.

The Colonels (10-21, 5-11) also had four other players in double figures. Anatoly Bose scored 15, while Dominic Friend had 12 and Ryan Bathie and Justin Payne each had 10.

Nicholls built a 21-point lead at the 16:22 mark of the second half en route to sweeping McNeese State (13-15, 7-9) this season. The Colonels trailed by as many as seven in the opening minutes of the game, but rallied to take a 38-25 lead at halftime.

The Cowboys, who will play Sam Houston State in the opening round of the SLC Tournament next week, outscored the Colonels in the second half, 38-37, but it wasn't enough to allow McNeese to retake the lead.

Nicholls shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) for the game compared to McNeese State's 34.4 percent (21-of-61). McNeese also struggled from three-point range, connecting on just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) of their shots compared to the Colonels' 33.3 percent (6-of-18) showing.

Nicholls closes out the 2007-08 season with their first 10-plus win season since the 2000-01 campaign.