Box Score

HAMMOND – After not playing one another on the basketball court for 20 years, in-state rivals Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech decided to make up for lost time.

DeShawn Patterson scored four of his 11 points in overtime, including a go-ahead basket with 2:15 remaining and Southeastern withstood a pair of Bulldog rallies to post a 72-69 victory on Wednesday at the University Center.

The gutsy win was Southeastern's first over Louisiana Tech (2-4) since a 74-72 victory on Jan. 18, 1966, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Bulldogs in the process. Meeting for the first time since the 1991-92 season, Southeastern (4-2) built a 15-point lead in the second half, only to see Louisiana Tech battle back and take a 59-58 lead on a free throw by Kenyon McNeail with 1:45 remaining in regulation.

After a turnover by Kenneth Smith with 25 seconds remaining in regulation kept Southeastern within a point, the Lions worked for the last shot as Patterson missed a jumper before teammate Roosevelt Johnson pulled down the rebound and was fouled with 0.6 seconds left.

Johnson, who scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds, went down to the floor with an ankle injury and did not return, and Patterson was put on the line where he tied the game on his first attempt before missing the second.

Patterson made up for it in overtime as he gave Southeastern a 61-59 lead on a layup before Antonnio Benton snapped a 61-61 tie with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. McNeail answered with a 3-pointer that tied the game at 64-64 with 2:49 left before Patterson scored and was fouled to put Southeastern ahead for good.

Brandon Fortenberry added a jumper with 39 seconds left for a 68-64 lead and Louisiana Tech never got closer than three points the rest of the game.

Southeastern opened the game on a 16-6 run, including a 10-0 spurt as Johnson drove the lane for an uncontested dunk before Fortenberry and Jeremy Campbell would drain consecutive 3-pointers.

The Lions took a 25-14 lead on a jumper by Patterson with 7:20 left in the first half and led 30-25 at halftime.

A 3-pointer by Benton with 11:54 remaining in regulation gave Southeastern its biggest lead of the game, 47-32, before Louisiana Tech used full court pressure to get back in the game. The Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run capped by a Kenneth Smith jumper with 8:31 left that cut the lead to 47-44.

J.L. Lewis, who posted career-highs with 20 points and 11 rebounds, tied the game at 58-58 with a 3-pointer with 2:24 remaining in regulation before McNeail gave Louisiana Tech its first lead since early in the first half when he made the first of two free throws.

Fortenberry scored 20 points and dished out a game-high seven assists for Southeastern, which forced 18 turnovers and held Louisiana Tech to 23-for-56 (41.1 percent) from the floor and 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) from behind the 3-point line.

Southeastern, which was outrebounded by a larger Bulldog squad, 47-31, finished 26-for-58 (44.8 percent) from the floor and 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from behind the 3-point line. Benton and Daron Populist scored nine points each for Southeastern, which gave head coach Jim Yarbrough his 100th career victory in Hammond and 197th overall.

The Lions will return to the road for a non-conference contest on Saturday when they face Ohio Valley Conference member Southeast Missouri in a 7:30 p.m. game in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

LOUISIANA TECH (2-4)
Lewis 8-11 3-3 20; McNeail 5-9 4-6 17; K. Smith 1-8 6-9 8; Kyser 3-5 0-2 6; Gaskins 2-9 2-3 6; Johnson 2-7 1-2 5; Souza 1-3 2-4 4; L. Smith 1-2 0-0 3; Carr 0-0 0-0 0; Appleby 0-0 0-0 0; Gibson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 18-29 69.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (4-2)
Fortenberry 7-14 4-6 20; Johnson 8-13 1-5 17; Patterson 5-10 1-6 11; Populist 1-3 6-6 9; Benton 3-6 1-2 9; Campbell 1-8 1-2 4; Petrovcic 1-4 0-0 2; Cooper 0-0 0-0 0; Ross 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 14-27 72.

Halftime – SLU 30, Louisiana Tech 25. End of Regulation – SLU 59, Louisiana Tech 59. 3-point goals – Louisiana Tech 5-21 (McNeail 3-5; L. Smith 1-2; Lewis 1-1; Gaskins 0-3; Johnson 0-4; Gibson 0-2; K. Smith 0-4), SLU 6-13 (Benton 2-3; Fortenberry 2-5; Populist 1-1; Campbell 1-3; Johnson 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Louisiana Tech 47 (Lewis 11), SLU 31 (Johnson 7). Assists - Louisiana Tech 9 (Gaskins, K. Smith 3), SLU 16 (Fortenberry 7). Total fouls - Louisiana Tech 24, SLU 23. Technical fouls - None. A – 1,065.