— THIBODAUX, La. — For the second consecutive year, the closest Lamar University will get to the Southland Conference tournament in Katy is the Montagne Center parking lot.

    With a chance to slip through the back door to the No. 8 seed, after Southeastern Louisiana beat Northwestern State earlier Saturday afternoon, the Cardinals simply weren’t up to the occasion at Nicholls State. Down 23-22 at the break, the Colonels exploded for 51 second-half points enroute to a 73-61 victory.

    By coming up short, Lamar ended the season 5-11 in the SLC, 14-18 overall and on a seven-game losing streak. That matches the Cardinals longest losing streak since Grey Giovanine’s 1993-94 team dropped seven straight, and it’s the most consecutive losses to end a season since Jack Martin’s 1973-74 team ended with 12 consecutive defeats.

    Nicholls, which also denied Lamar the No. 8 seed in the final regular-season game last year, won for the fourth time in five starts to improve to 7-9, 11-18. The Colonels earned the right to meet SLC champion Sam Houston State in the first round of the tourney.

    Lamar, playing without starting guard Anthony Miles, battled ferociously but couldn’t get the defensive stops in the second half and didn’t have the firepower to keep up with the Colonels. Nicholls used a 12-2 run opening the second half to get the upper hand and led by as many as 11 (47-36) before the Cardinals used a 13-4 surge to get within 51-49.

    The Cardinals twice had possession with the chance to tie or go-ahead, but walk-on point guard Donte Lopez, starting in place of the injured Miles, missed shots both times. With Nicholls still leading by two, a trey by Chris Iles broke LU’s momentum and the Colonels gradually pulled away by hitting 13 of 16 free throws down the stretch.

    Justin Nabors, doubled and triple teamed on the inside, closed out a sold career for the Cardinals with 14 points. Nabors, however, didn’t get his usual double-double, managing to come down with only four rebounds.

    Kendrick Harris, who was only 5-of-14 from the field, scored 13 points. Lopez and Charlie Harper, playing for the first time after sitting out three games with a foot injury, added 10 points. Guard Reggie Mathis helped Lamar to a 33-24 rebound advantage by claiming 10 missed shots.

    Lamar managed to shoot 44.7 percent (21-of-47) from the field but was only 2-11 on treys (18.2 percent) and 17-of-27 (63.0) at the foul line.

    Anatoly Bose, a 6-6 junior who came in as the No. 2 scorer in the SLC, paced Nicholls with 22 points, including 3-of-7 treys.

    Nicholls,  made 14-of-21 shots in the second half and wound up shooting 51.1 percent (23-of-45) for the game. The Colonels also converted 23-of-31 free throws for 74.2 percent.

    In addition to Nabors, it was the final game at Lamar for 6-8 Lawrence Nwevo. With Cardinal coach Steve Roccaforte using a small lineup Saturday, Nwevo played only three minutes and didn’t score.