Some old friends visited the Mitchell Center on Thursday night, and were not very hospitable to South Alabama.

The Jaguars fell 102-97 in triple overtime to Nicholls in the first round of the Jaguar Classic, blowing a 17-point second-half lead in losing for the third time in four games this season. The Colonels (2-2) included a former South Alabama graduate assistant as their head coach and two former USA players among their starting five.

Former Jaguar Jamal West scored a game-high 31 points, including seven on free throws in the decisive overtime period. Ex-South Alabama forward Diante Smith added 19 points, 10 rebounds and six steals for coach Tevon Saddler’s Nicholls team.

“Tevon coached a really good game and I told him that,” said South Alabama coach Richie Riley, who himself coached at Nicholls for two seasons before taking over the Jaguars. “I root for those guys to do well, obviously not against us. I watch the guys that leave here, I check the box scores and unless it’s against us, I root for them.

“But they just came out and beat us. … They came in here and they found a way to win after we kind of controlled the game for a long time. We’re not playing well enough right now to beat anybody — I mean anybody.”

Positive relationships aside, it was a brutal loss for South Alabama. The Jaguars could not hold on to win despite leading 40-28 at halftime, 48-31 with 17:22 remaining in regulation, 68-62 with 48 seconds left in regulation, 80-79 with 1.7 seconds left in the first overtime, 84-80 in the second overtime and 89-87 in the third.

After South Alabama scored the first two points of the final overtime period, the Colonels scored the next 10 to go up 97-89 with 1:01 remaining. Rob Brown hit a pair of 3-pointers and West made four consecutive free throws to finally put the game out of reach for the Jaguars.

Perhaps most devastating was the end of regulation, when Nicholls scored the final six points after Maxwell Land’s tip-in put the Jaguars up 68-62 with 48 seconds to play. Smith dunked the ball to cut it to 4, then Brown made it a 3-point game with a steal and lay-up.

South Alabama could not score to go up by four, and West got the rebound and drove nearly the length of the floor through traffic for a layup with 0.5 seconds left to tie the game at 68 (Nicholls never led in regulation). West also drew a foul at the end of the first overtime, making one of two free throws to tie the game again at 80 after the Jaguars had overcome a seven-point deficit to take a one-point lead on two Tyrell Jones free throws with 1.7 remaining.

“That was a tough one,” South Alabama guard Marcus Millender said. “It was a game we felt like we had to win. We came out really hot, but we just let things get away from us at the end.”

Coupled with a 102-46 loss at Alabama on Tuesday, it was the first time South Alabama had surrendered 100-plus points in back-to-back games since 1994. Judas T. Prada’s Jaguars allowed 100-plus in five straight games to start that season, which ended with a 9-18 record and a coaching change.

On Thursday, Millender nearly recorded a triple-double in his first career start with 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Jones added 18 for the Jaguars, while Isiah Gaiter had 17, Land 13 and Marshall Kearing 11.

“He’s a tough little sucker, man,” Riley said of the 5-foot-9 Millender. “I think he probably got worn down; he played 53 minutes. But it was hard not to have him out there and try to win the game. We asked a lot of a freshman, but he’s only going to get better. We just need some of our older guys to step up and help him a little bit.”

South Alabama lost senior guard Judah Brown, its best outside shooter, to a lower leg injury late in regulation. Brown lay on the floor writhing in pain while a long sequence played out that finally ended with Nicholls scoring to make it a 55-51 game with 5:31 left.

Brown was helped off the court by trainers, not putting any weight on his right leg. Riley said Brown is almost certainly out for Friday’s game vs. Denver.

“He was hurting pretty bad,” Riley said. “He had his ankle wrapped up. It looks like he’s in a lot of pain. They’ll get an X-ray and look at him. I assume he’s a no-go for tomorrow, but hopefully, moving forward he’s OK.”

South Alabama continues Jaguar Classic play at 3 p.m. Friday, facing Denver. Nicholls takes on SIU-Edwardsville in the 6 p.m. game.