<p>THIBODAUX, La. — Cole Kelley passed for 391 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions on Saturday and Southeastern Louisiana rallied for a 52-45 win over Nicholls State in the River Bell Classic.</p>
<p>With the win, Southeastern Louisiana (4-2, 4-2 Southland Conference), ranked 23rd in the FCS Top 25, kept its hope alive for an at-large selection in the FCS playoffs. The Lions will face Southern Illinois on Saturday to close their season. Nicholls State (4-3, 3-3), ranked 18th, finished its season on Saturday and was effectively knocked out of playoff consideration with the loss.</p>
<p>The Lions returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the third quarter and scored three touchdowns by their offense in the second half to turn a 10-point deficit from late in the first half into a 52-38 lead.</p>
<p>Ferlando Jordan’s interception and 35-yard TD return tied it at 24 for the Lions in the first minute of the third quarter, and Jack Henderson’s interception and 23-yard TD return gave the Lions a 38-30 lead late in the third. </p>
<p>Nicholls State’s Kevin Moore III sacked Kelley and forced a fumble in the middle of the fourth quarter when the Lions were deep in Colonels territory, but Southeastern recovered and Kelley completed a 20-yard TD pass to Nick Kovacs to make it 52-38 on the next play.</p>
<p>CJ Turner had 11 catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns for Southeastern Louisiana.</p>
<p>Julien Gums ran for 67 yards and a career-high four touchdowns for Nicholls State.</p>
<hr />
<p>More AP college football: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/college-football">https://apnews.com/hub/college-football</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a></p>
