Carpenter sparks Nicholls St past Loyola, 87-62

THIBODAUX (AP) — T.J. Carpenter came off the bench to break an 11-11 tie with an eight-point outburst and spark Nicholls State to an 87-62 win over NAIA Loyola-New Orleans Saturday.

Carpenter, who finished with a team-high 20 points, scored on a layup, stole the ball and drilled the first of two 3-pointers in the span of less than two minutes as the Colonels flashed to a 21-15 lead and extended it to a 20-point advantage at intermission.

Jeremy Smith scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Colonels (2-4) and Dantrell Thomas added 13 points. Shane Rilleux dished off 11 assists. Carpenter was 7 of 11 shooting from the field, and drilled 5 of 8 from 3-point range.

Nicholls State shot 50 percent from the field (37 of 74).

Tomeny McCall scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Wolfpack.