HAMMOND – Brandon Fortenberry scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the first half and Southeastern Louisiana used solid defense in building a 40-9 lead and defeating Millsaps College, 74-44, in an exhibition game for both teams Wednesday at the University Center.
Roosevelt Johnson added 10 points for Southeastern while newcomer
Quin Cooper added eight for the Lions, who opened the game with a 28-2 run and led by as many as 41 points.
Johnson scored the first four points for Southeastern before a bucket by Millsaps' Nick Cortese cut the lead to 4-2 with 16:59 remaining in the first half. That would be as close as the Division III Majors would get as Fortenberry scored 10 of the Lions' next 13 points with LSU transfer
Daron Populist draining a 3-pointer for a 15-2 lead at the 12:47 mark.
The Lions held Millsaps to 3-for-27 (11.1 percent) shooting from the floor in the first half as the Majors missed 16 straight attempts over a 12-minute span before a 3-pointer by Taylor Meades cut the deficit to 28-5 with 4:24 remaining.
Southeastern took a 54-13 lead – its biggest of the game – on a steal and layup by
DeShawn Patterson with 15:05 remaining in the game before Millsaps began to chip away at the lead. A free throw by A.J. Leaks at the 4:20 mark cut the lead to 64-36, but the Lions quickly pushed the lead to 72-37 after
Antonnio Benton scored on a layup before
Michael Harrel, freshman
Donovan Ross and Cooper followed with buckets.
Southeastern finished 29-for-60 (48.3 percent) for the game and 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from behind the 3-point line. The Lions forced 24 turnovers which led to 27 points while outscoring the Majors, 38-10, in the paint.
Cortese, a Lafayette native and former St. Thomas More product, and Meades, a former Walker High product, scored nine points each to lead Millsaps. The Majors finished 15-for-54 (27.8 percent) from the floor and 6-for-20 from long range.
Southeastern will officially open its 2011-12 season on Sunday when it travels to face Conference USA opponent Tulsa in a 2 p.m. contest. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.
MILLSAPS COLLEGE
Meades 3-8 1-2 9; Cortese 4-8 0-0 9; Kastner 2-7 1-1 6; Merkel 0-2 5-6 5; Wilson 2-5 0-0 5; Thomas 2-5 0-0 4; White 1-4 0-1 3; Berger 1-5 0-0 2; Leaks 0-0 1-2 1; Walker 0-0 0-0 0; Pogue 0-0 0-0 0; Botero 0-0 0-0 0; Brown 0-4 0-0 0; Kinnear 0-3 0-2 0; Montgomery 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-54 8-14 44.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
Brandon Fortenberry 5-7 3-5 16;
Roosevelt Johnson 5-9 0-2 10;
Quin Cooper 3-5 0-0 8;
Donovan Ross 3-4 1-1 7;
Jan Petrovcic 2-6 2-2 6;
Michael Harrel 3-5 0-0 6;
Jeremy Campbell 2-5 1-2 6;
Antonnio Benton 2-5 0-2 4;
Todd Nelson 1-3 1-2 4;
Daron Populist 1-4 0-0 3;
DeShawn Patterson 1-2 0-0 2;
Onochie Ochie 1-5 0-0 2;
Jonathan Curtis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 8-16 74.
Halftime – SLU 40, Millsaps 9. 3-point goals - Millsaps 6-20 (Meades 2-5; Kastner 1-4; Cortese 1-3; Wilson 1-3; White 1-2; Brown 0-2; Merkel 0-1), SLU 8-17 (Fortenberry 3-4; Cooper 2-2; Nelson 1-3; Populist 1-3; Campbell 1-1; Benton 0-2; Ochie 0-1; Johnson 0-1). Fouled out - Petrovcic. Rebounds - Millsaps 40 (Brown 5), SLU 37 (Petrovcic 10). Assists - Millsaps 8 (Merkel 5), SLU 15 (Patterson 6). Total fouls – Millsaps 11, SLU 18. Technical fouls - None. A – 725.
