Lincoln -- Venson Hamilton had four of his nine points during a late 9-2 run as Nebraska defeated Southwest Texas State, 63-54, in the first round of the Ameritas Classic Friday evening.

With the win, the Huskers (4-3) advance to Saturday night's championship game beginning at 8:15 p.m. against Colgate, a 67-64 winner over Davidson. The Bobcats will play in Saturday's consolation game beginning at 6 p.m.

After Southwest Texas cut the Husker lead to 51-50 on a Mathis jumper, Hamilton, who did not start because of a sprained ankle, scored next four points on a dunk and a jumper to give Nebraska a 55-50 lead. The Bobcats cut the lead to 55-52 before redshirt freshman Cary Cochran sealed the win with a jumper and a pair of free throws as he finished with a career-high seven points.

Junior guard Cookie Belcher paced the Huskers with 15 points, five steals and four assists, while sophomore Chad Johnson added 11 points and four assists.

The Huskers held Southwest Texas to 33 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers while winning the rebounding battle 40-36.

The Huskers, who led 29-21 at halftime, pushed the lead to as many as 12, at 37-25, before the Bobcats began to trim the deficit. Clay Click scored all nine of his points on three-pointers in an 11-1 SWT run in cutting the NU lead to 49-48.

Forward Donte Mathis led SW Texas (2-2) with a game-high 16 points, while Jeff Foster added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

ON THE GAME
We just did enough to win tonight. You can see that we are not in sync yet.

It was obvious we overcame some adversity tonight. We played with out our starting point guard and our center played with sprained ankle.

ON VENSON HAMILTON
Even with a badly sprained right ankle, Venson pulled down 10 rebounds. A key to the game was a couple of blocked shots by Venson early in the second half that led to fast breaks.

ON COOKIE BELCHER
He struggled shooting the ball tonight, but did other things well. His steals really helped. He played a solid game.

ON NEBRASKA'S DEFENSE
I was pleased with or defense tonight. Our guys shut down Williams really well. We made them work for their shots.

Southwest Texas Head Coach Mike Miller
Post Game Quotes

ON THE GAME
I felt like the spurts were the difference in the game. The Nebraska defense made some plays on us and converted them into easy baskets.

ON NEBRASKA
They are a very good team. They are similar to the Missouri team we played earlier in the season. Both teams have similar athletic ability and the way they come after you is almost identical. I think Hamilton is one of the top guys in the Big 12.

ON CLAY CLICK'S PLAY
We expect him to to come off the bench and make the big plays. He had three from long range tonight to keep us in the game. If we can keep it close his baskets can do more than just keep us in the game.

Nebraska Postgame Notes
Nebraska has now held four opponents this season to 59 points or less and has held 12 of its last 23 opponents to to 66 points or less