NATCHITOCHES – For the second week in Turpin Stadium, Northwestern State was tied with its opponent in the third quarter.

But Nicholls opened the second half Saturday with a lengthy scoring drive as the Colonels pulled away for a 31-14 win in front of a crowd of 5,825.

Senior receiver C.J. Bates caught three touchdowns for Nicholls (4-4, 4-2 Southland Conference), including a 2-yard touchdown to begin the second half as the Colonels scored all 17 points after halftime.

The former UL Lafayette transfer totaled 179 yards on 10 catches, the most receiving yards and tied for the most receptions allowed by NSU this season.

Nicholls freshman quarterback Chase Fourcade tossed for 253 yards on 21-of-36 passing.

The Demons (1-7, 0-6 SLC) have been tied or led in the second half of four of their six conference losses, not including a 21-18 defeat to Incarnate Word.

A lack of depth, especially in certain positions like cornerback, has hindered NSU in second halves.

"That seems to be the way it's been going all year," said NSU coach Jay Thomas. "We had a chance to hold them to a field goal on one drive, and we get a personal foul that kept that drive alive and led to a touchdown.

"We were ineffective on offense in the second half, and our defense eventually wore down. We had some more injuries on defense, and we had defensive ends playing tackle. But no excuses, give credit to Nicholls because they're an improved football team."

Nicholls took advantage with time-consuming drives, including a 20-play scoring drive inthe first half and scoring drives of 11 and 13 plays that led to a nearly 15:30 edge in time of possession. The Colonels ran 87 plays for 432 yards compared to NSU's 47 plays for 256 yards (198 in the first half).

After a 60-yard drive that ended in Bates' 2-yard touchdown catch to give Nicholls a 21-14 edge, senior quarterback Brooks Haack was intercepted by Hezekiah White in the red zone.

Nicholls capitalized with a Bates 74-yard touchdown catch to build a 14-point lead from which the Demons wouldn't recover.

In this rivalry series, NSU had won the last two contests and four of the last five before Saturday's loss.

The Demons generated a quick start with senior De'Mard Llorens' 34-yard touchdown run to cap a 75-yard opening drive for an early 7-0 lead.

The Natchitoches native rushed for 112 yards on 16 carries, his sixth career 100-yard rushing performance.

"We've got to get the win," said Llorens, whose patient running allowed him to find holes and fight for extra yards. "(Individual stats) don't mean anything without it.

"I'm a team guy, and the individual accolades don't mean anything without a win. We're continuing to fight, and we tell the younger guys to keep fighting for the seniors."

A Bates 24-yard touchdown catch from Fourcade.tied the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter before a Fourcade 1-yard touchdown run ended a 20-play, 80-yard drive that consumed nearly eight minutes.

Nicholls converted two of its three fourth-down conversions on that drive, adding 8-of-18 on third-down conversions in the game.

The Demons recaptured the momentum with a 56-yard Bobby Chan-Chan touchdown catch in which he outjumped a Nicholls defensive back and broke away to tie the score, 14-14 just before halftime.

Chan-Chan recorded 84 yards on four catches, but NSU's passing woes continued.

Senior Brooks Haack threw for 102 yards on 7-of-14 with three interceptions. Junior J.D. Almond entered the game and completed 2-of-5 passes for 10 yards.

"We made some bad decisions … and we've got to get better play from that position," Thomas said. "We established the running game, something we wanted to do to try to give our defense a break.

"But we're in between a rock and a hard place right now."

NSU rushed for 144 yards on 30 carries, but Nicholls also pieced together a successful ground game, gaining 192 yards on 51 carries.

The Demons return to action Saturday at Abilene Christian for a 6 p.m. kickoff.