Box Score

BATON ROUGE – Southeastern Louisiana's Kevyn Green scored a game-high 25 points to lead four players in double figures, and the Lions built a commanding first-half lead before holding off a furious second half rally by Southern to claim an 84-75 victory Tuesday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

Warrell Span added 16 points for Southeastern (3-3), Patrick Sullivan added a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds and Chris Cyprian chipped in with 11 points as the Lions led 56-32 at halftime before Southern (0-5) fought back with a blistering performance from behind the 3-point line.

“For much of the first half, we played about a well as we could play, but Southern made a tremendous comeback in the second half and made a game of it,” Southeastern head coach Jim Yarbrough said. “We passed the test, but the lead got all the way down to seven and they (Southern) closed out the first half with a run. We traded baskets with them late in the half and then the (Jaguar) run came.”

After sinking one 3-pointer in the opening 20 minutes, Southern could not miss from long range, hitting 9-of-11 attempts from behind the 3-point arc in the second half and cutting a 56-27 Southeastern lead in the first to 72-65 after a 3-pointer by Barry Honore' with 9:17 remaining.

The teams traded buckets for the next four minutes before an 8-0 run by Southeastern pushed the lead to 84-65. Span hit a tough jumper in the lane to start the run for the Lions before Cyprian added a pair of layups and a driving layup by Brandon Fortenberry with 4:28 left put the game out of reach.

Despite not scoring again for the remainder of the game, Southeastern's defense held as Southern went 1-for-5 from the floor the remainder of the game with its lone bucket coming on Desmond Griffin's layup with 2:22 left.

Southeastern, which won for the fourth straight time in the in-state rivalry and recorded its first victory on the road, blew open a close game midway through the first half going on a 16-6 run to take a 32-16 lead.

Fortenberry, who scored seven points and tied a season-high with nine assists, scored five points during the run as his layup and 3-pointer put Southeastern ahead 21-12.

After Chris Davis scored on a layup that closed Southern to within, 32-18, the Lions went on another 16-6 run as Sullivan capped the rally with a tip-in off his own miss for a 50-24 lead with 3:28 left in the first half.

A jumper by Geri Guillory cut the lead to 50-26, but the Lions scored the next six points as Antonio Pope hit one of two free throws, Robert Tibbs added a layup and Green sank a 3-pointer for a 56-27 lead.

Southeastern shot 37-for-69 from the floor (54 percent) as it topped the 50-percent mark for the second consecutive game. The Lions also controlled the boards against Southern with a 38-35 advantage.

After going 10-for-33 (30 percent) in the first half, Southern finished 15-for-28 (54 percent) in the second half and 25-for-61 for the game. The Jaguars made 10-of-15 3-pointers, going 9-for-11 in the second half.

Davis led the Jaguars with a season-high 19 points while Guillory added 14 and Honore' 13.

Southeastern will return to action on Saturday when it plays host to Southern-New Orleans in a 3 p.m. contest at the University Center. The game will be aired in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.

Tickets are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (3-3)
Green 10-20 0-0 25; Span 8-15 0-0 16; Sullivan 6-10 2-2 14; Cyprian 5-5 0-0 11; Fortenberry 3-6 0-0 7; Pope 2-3 1-4 5; Tibbs 2-6 0-1 4; Patterson 1-4 0-0 2; Dunbar 0-0 0-0 0; Ndoumba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 37-69 3-7 84.

SOUTHERN (0-5)
C. Davis 8-17 0-0 19; Guillory 5-6 2-3 14; Honore' 4-8 3-4 13; Williams 3-5 1-1 9; Brown 2-7 1-4 5; Scott 2-6 0-2 5; Griffin 1-5 2-2 4; Ingram 0-1 2-2 2; Horne 0-5 2-2 2; Talley 0-1 2-2 2; A. Davis 0-0 0-0 0; White 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 15-22 75.

Halftime – SLU 56, Southern 32. 3-point goals – SLU 7-18 (Green 5-13; Fortenberry 1-3; Cyprian 1-1; Span 0-1), Southern 10-15 (C. Davis 3-5; Guillory 2-2; Williams 2-2; Honore' 2-3; Scott 1-1; Griffin 0-2). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – SLU 38 (Sullivan 12), Southern 35 (Brown, Scott 5). Assists – SLU 19 (Fortenberry 9), Southern 14 (C. Davis 8). Total fouls – SLU 17, Southern 12. Technical fouls - None. A – 368.