ESPN Men's Basketball

THIBODAUX, La. -- Todd Nelson knocked down four 3-pointers en route to 19 points and Southeastern Louisiana used a big first half to beat Nicholls State 68-58 on Saturday.

Roosevelt Johnson recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds while Elgin Bailey and Jeremy Campbell finished with 12 points and four rebounds apiece for the Lions (12-17, 5-11 Southland Conference).

Nicholls State (10-19, 6-10) made the first basket of the game but Southeastern Louisiana scored 10 unanswered points to jump ahead 10-2. The Lions would stretch that lead to 24-9 after Nelson made a 3-pointer with 5:44 left in the first half.

Southeastern Louisiana shot 53.3 (24 of 45) from the field, compared to just 34.5 percent (20 of 58) for Nicholls State, and outrebounded the Colonels 34-27.

Shane Rillieux led Nicholls State with 15 and Dantrell Thomas had 13, but the Colonels went just 4 of 22 from 3-point range.