Box Score HAMMOND – Even though both were coming off the bench for one of the rare times in their Southeastern Louisiana career, seniors
Kevyn Green and
Warrell Span felt at home.
Green scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures and Southeastern used a strong first half as it defeated Millsaps College, 85-56, Tuesday night at the University Center.
Span, who didn't start for the first time in 39 games in a Southeastern uniform, and
Damon Forest each scored 15 points for Southeastern (5-4) while
Patrick Sullivan and
Robert Tibbs added 11 each. The Lions built a 42-16 lead at halftime as it held Millsaps (2-7) to 6-for-27 (22.2 percent) from the floor and held the Majors scoreless for over six minutes in the first half.
“We wanted to come out and tried to have our emotions and togetherness as a team intact and I thought that mission was accomplished in the first half,” Southeastern head coach
Jim Yarbrough said. “We played stellar defense and really bothered them (Millsaps) and took control of the game.
“Millsaps did a nice job in coming in here and running their stuff and being very patient. They didn't panic and made us work for everything.”
Forest, playing his first game at home as a Lion after transferring from Louisiana-Lafayette, sank a pair of 3-pointers after Chris Ingle's bucket to open the contest gave Millsaps its only lead of the game.
A layup by former Mandeville High product Blake Martinez cut the Southeastern lead to 6-4 with 16:35 remaining in the first half, but the Majors would not score again until Martinez hit a 3-pointer with 10:32 left.
Southeastern put the game away during that span with an 11-0 run capped by two free throws by Span that gave the Lions a 17-4 lead at the 10:42 mark. The Lions pushed their lead to 28-10 on a jumper by Span before Sullivan gave Southeastern a 32-12 advantage with a jumper in the lane.
A 3-pointer by Green, who finished 6-for-11 from the floor and 5-of-10 from behind the 3-point line, gave Southeastern a 48-21 lead with 15:59 left in the game before the Majors chipped away at the lead.
Martinez, who led Millsaps with 17 points, sank one of his four 3-pointers with 8:34 left to close the gap to 59-39, but Southeastern quickly extended its lead to 72-41 as Span scored seven points in a 13-2 run, including his first career 3-pointer.
Span, who finished 6-for-8 from the floor, led Southeastern with eight rebounds while
Brandon Fortenberry dished out a season-high 10 assists. Sullivan, who finished 4-for-5 from the floor, added a blocked shot to tie former Lion Thelander “Legs” Tillman for all-time record with 131.
Southeastern will return to action on Saturday when it closes out its homestand against Jackson State in a 3 p.m. contest.
MILLSAPS COLLEGE (2-7)
Martinez 6-12 1-1 17; Varnado 3-7 4-4 11; Ingle 2-5 0-0 4; Songy 1-4 2-2 4; O'Rear 2-5 0-0 4; Hittel 1-3 0-0 3; Merkel 1-1 0-0 3; Brown 1-1 0-0 2; Durham 1-3 0-0 2; Sanders 1-4 0-0 2; Booth 1-3 0-0 2; Cooper 1-1 0-0 2; Hunter 0-0 0-0 0; Doherty 0-0 0-0 0; Love 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 21-50 7-8 56.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (5-4)
Green 6-11 0-0 17; Span 6-8 2-4 15; Forest 6-10 1-2 15; Sullivan 4-5 3-4 11; Tibbs 4-6 3-3 11; Pope 3-3 2-3 8; Cyprian 2-4 1-1 6; Ndoumba 1-2 0-0 2; Hankins 0-0 0-0 0; Patterson 0-1 0-0 0; Burches 0-1 0-0 0; Richard 0-0 0-0 0; Fortenberry 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-52 12-17 85.
Halftime – SLU 42, Millsaps College 16. 3-point goals - Millsaps College 7-23 (Martinez 4-9; Merkel 1-1; Hittel 1-2; Varnado 1-1; Sanders 0-2; Booth 0-2; Love 0-1; O'Rear 0-2; Songy 0-3), SLU 9-24 (Green 5-10; Forest 2-6; Cyprian 1-3; Span 1-1; Burches 0-1; Fortenberry 0-1; Tibbs 0-2). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Millsaps College 21 (Sanders 5), SLU 33 (Span 8). Assists - Millsaps College 14 (Songy 4), SLU 23 (Fortenberry 10). Total fouls - Millsaps College 18, SLU 16. Technical fouls - None. A – 1,226.
