Box Score Box Score
HAMMOND – Patrick Sullivan posted his fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds and
Damon Forest iced the game with four free throws in the final 10 seconds as Southeastern Louisiana pulled away in the second half and defeated William Carey, 74-68, on Saturday at the University Center.
Sullivan, who posted his 17th career double-double, added four blocked shots and four assists while tying his career-high in points scored for Southeastern (8-4). The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Lions, who won their 20th consecutive non-conference game at home dating back to the 2007-08 season. William Carey, an NAIA school that featured seven Division I transfers, entered the game at 8-1 with Saturday's game counting as an exhibition.
Both teams battled through four ties and 14 lead changes in the first half as Southeastern led 33-32 at halftime. The Lions built a 14-9 lead on a layup by Forest with 11:08 left in the first half before the Crusaders chipped away and built a 22-20 lead on two free throws by Drew Meyerchick.
Southeastern opened the second half on a 9-2 run, capped by a layup by
Deshawn Patterson with 16:05 remaining. William Carey rallied to tie the game at 45-45 on a 3-pointer by Brandon Cooks at the 12:27 mark before Sullivan gave Southeastern the lead for good with a jumper in the lane.
That started a 7-0 run by the Lions with
Robert Tibbs converting on a three-point play and
Jason Marks scoring on a layup for a 52-45 lead. The Lions extended their lead to 10 points on two free throws by Forest with 2:34 remaining before the Crusaders mounted another rally.
After
Gary Dixon gave Southeastern a 70-63 lead with 1:03 left, former Lion
Chris Cyprian scored on a layup and Cooks followed with a 3-pointer with 29 seconds left that cut the lead to 70-68.
Forest sank two free throws with 10.5 seconds left for a 72-68 lead and after rebounding a Cyprian miss, sank two more free throws with 1.7 seconds left.
The win spoiled the homecoming for Cyprian, a former Hammond High product and two-year letterwinner for Southeastern from 2007-09. Cyprian scored 15 points and dished out a game-high five assists for the Crusaders.
Meyerchick, a transfer from Louisiana-Monroe and former Franklinton High product, led the Crusaders with 17 points while former Southern Miss letterwinners Cory Smith and Cooks added 12 and 11 points each.
Southeastern finished 27-for-59 from the floor (51.9 percent), including 14-for-25 (56.0 percent) in the second half. The Lions held a 36-26 advantage on the boards and made 16 of 21 attempts at the free throw line.
Southeastern returns to action on Tuesday when it closes out non-conference action at Big 12 member Nebraska before opening Southland Conference action on Saturday against Lamar.
WILLIAM CAREY (8-1)
Meyerchick 5-11 4-4 17; Cyprian 7-14 0-2 15; Smith 4-8 4-4 12; Cooks 4-9 0-2 11; Wilcher 2-6 0-0 4; Doss 2-2 0-0 4; Huggins 1-3 0-0 3; Wade 0-1 2-2 2; Garcia 0-0 0-0 0; Green 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 10-14 68.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (8-4)
Forest 8-14 7-9 24; Sullivan 9-16 4-6 22; Dixon 3-8 0-0 8; Marks 2-3 2-2 6; Patterson 2-2 1-1 5; Hutchin 1-2 1-2 4; Tibbs 1-4 1-1 3; Burches 1-3 0-0 2; Ndoumba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 16-21 74.
Halftime – SLU 33, WC 32. 3-point goals – WC 8-20 (Cooks 3-6; Meyerchick 3-5; Huggins 1-2; Cyprian 1-5; Wilcher 0-2), SLU 4-14 (Dixon 2-7; Hutchin 1-2; Forest 1-5). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – WC 26 (Wilcher 6; Cooks 6), SLU 36 (Sullivan 18). Assists – WC 15 (Cyprian 5), SLU 14 (Patterson, Sullivan 4). Total fouls – WC 17, SLU 15. Technical fouls - None. A – 602.
