COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana kept it close early, but an early big run by Texas A&M was too much to overcome Monday at Reed Arena as the Lions fell, 100-58, to former head coach Billy Kennedy.

The Aggie head coach improved to 2-1 all-time against his alma mater, facing Southeastern (0-2) for the first time since the 1998-99 season when he was leading the men's basketball program at Centenary. A&M, which hosts fellow Southland Conference opponent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, improved to 2-0 to open the season.

The first several minutes of the game featured back-and-forth action, with the Lions taking the lead, 6-5, 1:53 after tipoff on a Keith Charleston layup. Zay Jackson, a senior from Hammond, Louisiana, dished out the assist. A&M grabbed the lead back on a pair of Tyler Davis free throw attempts and added a a pair to the lead on a layup from Tonny Trocha-Morelos.

Joshua Filmore, a junior from Orlando, Florida, tied it back up, 9-9, with a 3-pointer off an assist from Charleston at the 16:24 mark. The Aggies pulled away from that point, embarking on a 16-2 run over the next 5:54.

A jumper from Mo Greenwood, a freshman Camden, Mississippi, and a pair of free throws from Dimi Cook in the final 40 seconds leading up to halftime cut four points off the Aggie's lead, 50-30.

Southeastern shaved five points off the deficit in the early moments of the second half.

Jackson drilled a 3-pointer off an assist from Cook, a redshirt freshman from Gulfport, Mississippi, just 27 seconds after play resumed.

Daniel Grieves, a senior from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, tipped in a Cook layup with 17:08 to play, bringing the Lions within 50-35. It was as close as Southeastern would pull to the Aggies for the remainder of the game.

Marlain Veal, a freshman from Gretna, Louisiana, led the Lions with 10 points. Jackson added nine points while Cook and Grieves chipped in eight points each. Cook and Charleston, a junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, tied for the team lead in rebounds with five boards apiece.

Southeastern shot 35.3 percent (18-of-51) from the floor, including 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from 3-point range. The Lions were 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) from the free throw line.

Danuel House, with 20 points, led five Aggies in double-figure scoring, including Davis (18), Admon Gilder (14), Trocha-Morelos (12) and DJ Hogg (11). Davis also hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double.

A&M shot 54.1 percent (33-of-61) from the floor, including 56 percent (14-of-25) from 3-point range. The Aggies were 20-of-33 (60.6 percent) from the free throw line and out-rebounded Southeastern, 49-26.

Amir Abdur-Rahim, a fellow Southeastern alum, is a member of Kennedy's staff. A three-time All-Southland selection, Abdur-Rahim led the Lions in scoring all three seasons and finished as the program's eighth all-time scorer with 1,282 points.

The Lions return Wednesday to the University Center, hosting Mississippi College at 7 p.m. in the 2015-16 home opener.

Courtside Top Cat seats are $25 for an individual game. General admission tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children (age 3-12). Southeastern students will be admitted free with a valid university ID card.

Advanced tickets for individual basketball games can be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or through the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office, located in Room 107 of the Dugas Center for Southeastern Athletics. For more information, contact the ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Fridays.

The University Center box office opens one hour prior to tipoff.

SOUTHEASTERN LA. (0-2)
Veal, Marlain 3-6 2-6 10; Jackson, Zay 3-5 2-3 9; Cook, Dimi 1-7 6-6 8; Grieves, Daniel 3-6 2-4 8; Charleston, Keith 3-4 1-6 7; Filmore, Joshua 1-3 3-4 6; Currington, James 2-7 0-0 4; Hawkins, Mike 0-6 2-2 2; Capps, Jordan 1-3 0-0 2; Greenwood, Mo 1-4 0-0 2; Nelson, Dominic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 18-31 58.


TEXAS A&M (2-0)
Danuel House 6-12 2-2 20; Tyler Davis 6-8 6-9 18; Admon Gilder 5-10 2-3 14; Trocha-Morelos 4-6 3-6 12; DJ Hogg 3-5 2-2 11; Anthony Collins 3-7 0-0 ; Elijah Thomas 3-4 0-3 6; Tavario Miller 1-3 4-6 6; Alex Caruso 2-3 0-0 4; Dobbins 0-1 1-2 1; Juan Aparicio 0-1 0-0 0; TJ Distefano 0-1 0-0 0; Byers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-61 20-33 100.


Southeastern La............... 30 28 - 58
Texas A&M...................... 50 50 - 100


3-point goals--Southeastern La. 4-17 (Veal, Marlain 2-3; Jackson, Zay 1-2; Filmore, Joshua 1-1; Hawkins, Mike 0-5; Capps, Jordan 0-1; Grieves, Daniel 0-2; Cook, Dimi 0-3), Texas A&M 14-25 (Danuel House 6-11; DJ Hogg 3-5; Admon Gilder 2-5; Anthony Collins 2-2; Tonny Trocha-Morelos 1-1; Alex Caruso 0-1). Fouled out--Southeastern La.-None, Texas A&M-Elijah Thomas. Rebounds--Southeastern La. 26 (Cook, Dimi 5; Charleston, Keith 5), Texas A&M 49 (Tyler Davis 12). Assists--Southeastern La. 10 (Cook, Dimi 3), Texas A&M 27 (Admon Gilder 5; Alex Caruso 5; Tonny Trocha-Morelos 5). Total fouls--Southeastern La. 28, Texas A&M 25. Technical fouls—Southeastern La.-None, Texas A&M-None. A-4903