SAN ANTONIO -- Julien Gums danced his way into the end zone in the final minutes and the Nicholls defense held on to give the Colonels a 27-23 victory over Incarnate Word on Saturday.

Gums carried the ball six times for 68 yards with bursts of 28 and 31 yards, on a 9-play, 74-yard drive to retake the lead with 3:27 remaining.

That left the Cardinals plenty of time to score and they were marching, going 59 yards in 14 plays with a first down on Nicholl's 26 when Sully Laiche blew through the protection to sack Jon Copeland. The Cardinals had time for just one more play after Laiche's 31st career sack. UIW came up short as Copeland completed a pass to Brady Rogers at the 14 as time expired.

Kevin Brown walked into the end zone from the 1 to give the Cardinals a 23-20 advantage with 7:49 left in the game.

Gums finished with 178 yards and two scores for Nicholls (4-4, 3-2 Southland Conference) to keep them in the hunt for the league title, trailing Central Arkansas (7-2, 5-1).

Copeland threw for 357 yards for UIW (5-4, 4-3).