Box Score LAKE CHARLES – Freshman
Deshawn Patterson scored five points in a decisive 11-2 run and Southeastern Louisiana kept its postseason chances alive with a come-from-behind 71-61 Southland Conference win over McNeese State Wednesday at Burton Coliseum.
Patrick Sullivan scored four of his game-high 17 points in the final 1:06 as Southeastern (12-16, 6-9 SLC) won its third straight game and moved into an eighth-place tie with Lamar. Southeastern, which concludes the regular-season on Saturday at Northwestern State, can secure its sixth straight berth to the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament with a win and a Lamar loss to Nicholls State.
Southeastern led 59-49 on a bucket by
Damon Forest with 6:43 remaining before McNeese State (11-17, 5-10 SLC) mounted a comeback. Stephen Martin drilled a 3-pointer and added a three-point play that closed the gap to 59-55 with 5:59 left.
John Pichon added two free throws and hit a jumper that got the Cowboys to within 60-59 with 3:28 left before
David Ndoumba scored on a basket to push the Southeastern lead to 62-59.
Patterson, who scored 11 points, then drained a 3-pointer with 2:07 left that gave Southeastern a 65-59 lead and the Lions converted off a turnover when Sullivan scored on a jumper for a 67-58 advantage. Patterson and Sullivan added free throws down the stretch for Southeastern, which overcame a 10-point first half deficit and won its third road game of the season.
McNeese State pulled away from a 10-10 deadlock and built a 21-11 lead on Patrick Richard's three-point play with 10:27 remaining in the first half. Southeastern chipped away at the lead and capped off a 14-3 run as a layup by
Chris Cyprian gave Southeastern a 25-24 lead that was never relinquished.
Forest and
Warrell Span scored 12 points each for Southeastern while Patterson and
Brandon Fortenberry added 11. Kleon Penn and Elbryan Neal scored 11 points each to lead McNeese State.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (12-16, 6-9)
Sullivan 7-13 3-4 17; Forest 4-13 1-2 12; Span 5-12 2-2 12; Fortenberry 3-6 5-6 11; Patterson 2-5 6-7 11; Cyprian 2-4 0-0 4; Ndoumba 2-2 0-1 4; Tibbs 0-1 0-0 0; Pope 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 17-22 71.
MCNEESE STATE (11-17, 5-10)
Neal 4-8 3-4 11; Penn 4-6 3-7 11; Martin 4-6 1-1 10; Pichon 3-7 4-5 10; Collins 3-4 0-0 7; Kapelan 1-7 2-2 5; Alawoya 1-6 2-2 4; Richard 1-8 1-1 3; Cotton 0-3 0-0 0; Holland 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 16-22 61.
Halftime – SLU 37, McNeese State 30. 3-point goals – SLU 4-11 (Forest 3-8; Patterson 1-1; Fortenberry 0-1; Cyprian 0-1), McNeese State 3-11 (Collins 1-2; Kapelan 1-3; Martin 1-2; Richard 0-3; Pichon 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – SLU 39 (Sullivan 7), McNeese State 35 (Pichon 8). Assists – SLU 4 (Four with 1), McNeese State 6 (Pichon 3). Total fouls – SLU 17, McNeese State 19. Technical fouls - None. A – 832.
