Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana's
Damon Forest came off the bench to score a career-high 28 points and the Lions built a 25-point lead before holding off Florida Atlantic, 90-77, Monday night at the University Center.
Trent Hutchin added 17 points and
David Ndoumba 11 as Southeastern (2-0) shot 58 percent (18-for-31) and built a 49-24 lead in the first half. Florida Atlantic, which was led by freshman Raymond Taylor's 25 points, evened its record at 1-1.
Forest, who finished 9-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-5 behind the 3-point line, scored 12 points in the first half as Southeastern led 51-27 at the break. After a bucket by Sanchez Hughley cut the FAU deficit to 31-19, Southeastern went on a 14-3 run capped by a free throw by
Gary Dixon that gave the Lions a 45-22 advantage with 1:56 remaining.
The Owls chipped away at the lead in the second half behind the play of Taylor, the Owls' 5-foot-6 point guard, and Shavar Richardson. A 3-pointer by Richardson, who scored 17 of his 18 points in the second half, closed the FAU deficit to 67-56 with 8:59 to play, but Southeastern would push the lead to 74-57 on a pair of free throws by
Jason Marks.
Brandon Fortenberry, who scored 10 points for Southeastern after missing the team's season-opener last Friday, drained a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down for a 78-61 lead and the Lions made 12 free throws down the stretch to ice the victory.
Marks added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Southeastern, which shot 47 percent for the game and sank 10 3-pointers for the second consecutive contest.
Deshawn Patterson pulled down eight rebounds and had two steals for Southeastern, which held FAU to 27 percent from the floor in the first half and 35 percent (25-for-72) for the game.
Southeastern returns to action on Thursday when it visits Mississippi State (0-1) in a 7 p.m. contest at Humphrey Coliseum.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC (1-1)
Taylor 9-23 4-6 25; Richardson 3-10 9-10 18; Royster 3-8 3-4 9; Hughley 2-6 2-2 6; McCoy 3-5 0-0 6; Gantt 2-12 0-0 5; Tucker 1-3 2-3 4; Mattison 1-4 0-0 2; Simpson 1-1 0-1 2; Stewart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-72 20-26 77.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (2-0)
Forest 9-13 6-6 28; Hutchin 4-9 6-6 17; Ndoumba 4-5 3-4 11; Fortenberry 3-5 1-4 10; Marks 3-4 4-5 10; Sullivan 1-12 5-6 7; Burches 2-2 0-0 4; Patterson 1-5 0-0 2; Dixon 0-2 1-2 1; Tibbs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-57 26-33 90.
Halftime – SLU 51, FAU 27. 3-point goals – FAU 7-25 (Taylor 3-11; Richardson 3-6; Gantt 1-7; Hughley 0-1), SLU 10-17 (Forest 4-5; Hutchin 3-6; Fortenberry 3-3; Patterson 0-1; Dixon 0-2). Fouled out – Royster. Rebounds – FAU 41 (Royster, Simpson, McCoy 6), SLU 41 (Patterson, Marks 8). Assists – FAU 9 (Taylor 4), SLU 17 (Fortenberry 4). Total fouls – FAU 25, SLU 20. Technical fouls - None. A – 709.
