East Texas A&M visits Dunkley and Nicholls State

By Canadian Press on January 2, 2026.

East Texas A&M Lions (6-8, 1-3 Southland) at Nicholls State Colonels (5-8, 4-0 Southland)

Thibodaux, Louisiana; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Nicholls State hosts East Texas A&M after Jalik Dunkley scored 22 points in Nicholls State’s 71-69 victory against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros.

The Colonels are 3-0 on their home court. Nicholls State has a 1-0 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Lions are 1-3 against Southland opponents. East Texas A&M is 2-6 against opponents over .500.

Nicholls State is shooting 44.3% from the field this season, 1.4 percentage points lower than the 45.7% East Texas A&M allows to opponents. East Texas A&M’s 44.0% shooting percentage from the field this season is 4.8 percentage points lower than Nicholls State has given up to its opponents (48.8%).

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dunkley is shooting 59.0% and averaging 13.8 points for the Colonels. Jaylen Searles is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games.

Ronnie Harrison Jr. is shooting 50.3% and averaging 14.5 points for the Lions. Damian Garcia is averaging 11.9 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Colonels: 5-5, averaging 80.7 points, 27.8 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 11.2 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.7 points per game.

Lions: 5-5, averaging 72.6 points, 31.2 rebounds, 16.8 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.0 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press