Nutall lifts Sam Houston St. over Nicholls St. 78-71

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) �� Zach Nutall scored 23 points as Sam Houston won its ninth straight home game, topping Nicholls State 78-71 on Saturday and shaking up the top of the Southland Conference standings.

Donte Powers had 15 points and eight assists for Sam Houston (14-6, 8-1 Southland). Tristan Ikpe added 11 points and 13 rebounds. Demarkus Lampley had 10 points. Javion May had 5 points and 10 rebounds.

The win lifts Sam Houston State out of a four-way cluster at the top of the Southland. Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin are each 7-1 with Nicholls just behind.

Jaylen Fornes scored a season-high 20 points for the Colonels (10-6, 7-2), whose eight-game win streak was snapped. Ty Gordon added 19 points and six rebounds. Andre Jones had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Sam Houston defeated Nicholls State 84-81 on Jan. 2.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com