Box Score Box Score
BATON ROUGE – LSU opened the second half with a 15-2 run and Southeastern Louisiana could never recover, falling 77-60 to the Tigers in non-conference men's basketball action Monday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The loss snapped a four-game Southeastern winning streak and dropped the Lions' overall mark to 6-2. LSU improved to 6-2 overall with the victory and extended its home winning streak over in-state opponents to 78 games.
“I didn't think we did anything particularly well in the second half,” Southeastern Louisiana head coach
Jim Yarbrough commented. “We played well and hung tough in the first half, but could not rise to the occasion after halftime. We have to get mentally tougher if we are going to compete in the Southland Conference.”
The defeat spoiled an excellent performance by Lion senior forward
Patrick Sullivan. The Orlando, Fla. native posted his second double-double of the season with a team-high 19 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard
Brandon Fortenberry added eight points and junior guard
Gary Dixon chipped in seven for the Lions.
Sullivan and company's efforts were not enough to offset the Tiger trio of senior forward Tasmin Mitchell, junior guard Bo Spencer and sophomore forward Storm Warren. Mitchell led LSU with a double-double performance with a game-high 24 points and career-high 18 rebounds. Spencer added 21 points and five assists, while Warren posted a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.
LSU scored the first seven points of the second half and a three-point play by Mitchell stretched the lead to 49-34 with 13:35 left in the contest to cap the second half opening run.
Southeastern pulled to within 10 on a Sullivan layup with 10:13 left. However, that would be as close as the Lions would get as the Tiger lead stretched to as much as 19.
Southeastern went into the halftime break down by three, 34-31, after an opening period that featured six ties and five lead changes. Mitchell's double-double effort of 12 points and 12 rebounds paced the Tiger effort in the opening 20 minutes, while Sullivan countered with a near double-double of 14 points and nine rebounds for the Lions.
Sullivan scored 10 points in the opening five minutes, as the Lions took an early 12-7 lead. LSU answered with a 7-0 run and a pair of Spencer free throws gave the Tigers a 14-12 advantage with 11:36 remaining.
For the remainder of the half, the lead see-sawed back and forth with neither team leading by more than four points. Southeastern took its final lead of the first half on a long three by Dixon that put the Lions up, 29-26 with 3:55 left.
LSU finished the half with an 8-2 run to take the three-point lead into the break. A jumper by Mitchell put the Tigers' lead at three at the break.
Southeastern will return to action on Wednesday, hosting in-state foe Southern at 7 p.m. in the University Center. Wednesday's game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net, where live stats will also be available. The contest between the Lions and Jaguars will also be televised on a tape-delayed basis by the Southeastern Channel (Charter Channel 18).
LSU 77, Southeastern Louisiana 60
Southeastern La. (6-2)
Marks 2-2 0-0 4, Sullivan 8-14 3-4 19, Hutchin 2-8 0-0 5, Patterson 0-1 2-2 2, Dixon 2-4 2-2 7, Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Fortenberry 3-8 0-2 8, Johnson 0-1 1-4 1, Tibbs 2-5 0-0 5, Burches 0-2 0-0 0, Ndoumba 0-0 2-4 2, Forest 2-8 1-1 5. Totals 22-55 11-19 60.
LSU (6-2)
Mitchell 9-18 5-6 24, Warren 6-9 2-7 14, Bass 2-5 0-0 6, Spencer 6-13 6-8 21, Dotson 1-6 3-7 5, Green 0-0 0-0 0, Populist 0-0 0-0 0, Ludwig 1-2 2-2 4, Beattie 0-1 0-0 0, Kinsley 1-1 0-0 3, Jacobsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 18-30 77.
Halftime – LSU 34, SLU 31. 3-point goals – SLU 5-18 (Fortenberry 2-5, Hutchin 1-4, Dixon 1-3, Tibbs 1-2, Patterson 0-1, Jones 0-1, Forest 0-2). LSU 7-18 (Spencer 3-5, Bass 2-3, Mitchell 1-3, Kinsley 1-1, Dotson 0-4, Ludwig 0-1, Beattie 0-1). Technical Fouls – None. Fouled Out - None. Rebounds – SLU 33 (Sullivan 13), LSU 40 (Mitchell 18). Assists – SLU 6 (Hutchin 2), LSU 14 (Spencer 5). Total Fouls – SLU 22, LSU 18. A – 8,003.
