TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida native Joshua Filmore led all players with 19 points Sunday, but it was not enough to carry Southeastern Louisiana past host Florida State in a 75-58 non-conference loss at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

The Southeastern (2-8) defense kept FSU (6-2) off balance early, clogging up the inside, allowing the Lions to open up an early lead. Filmore, a junior from Orlando, Florida, drained a 3-pointer at the 16:03 mark to give Southeastern a 5-4 lead and then hit another coming out of the first media timeout to put the Lions up, 8-4.

Zay Jackson, a senior from Hammond, Louisiana, expanded the lead to six, 10-4, with a layup at the 14:32 mark. The Lions held the lead until FSU tied the game, 16-16, on a Phil Cofer free-throw attempt with 9:09 remaining in the half.

The Seminoles hit on just five of their first 16 shots, but slowly started to edge away from Southeastern. Taking a 20-16 lead at the 7:42 mark on a Cofer dunk, FSU struggled to put distance between itself and the Lions.

Mike Hawkins, a senior from Raymond, Mississippi, drilled a 3-pointer with 6:05 to play in the first half, tying the game up, 21-21, but the Seminoles outscored Southeastern down the stretch, 8-1, taking a 7-point lead into the locker room at half.

The Lion offense cooled down the stretch in the first half, sinking just a pair of field goals in the final 11 minutes, but their inside game remained strong. Southeastern won the battle on the boards, 21-17.

In the second half, FSU built a double-digit lead on a 3-pointer by Xavier Rathan-Mayes at the 18:12 mark. From that point forward the Seminole lead fluctuated between seven and 19 points.

The Lions cut the FSU lead to 55-48 at the 6:56 mark on a 3-pointer by Daniel Grieves, a senior from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, but Benji Bell put the Seminoles back up by 10 with a 3-pointer of his own just 20 seconds later.

Jackson scored nine and Dimi Cook, a freshman from Gulfport, Mississippi, added seven points to join Filmore at the top of the Lions' scoresheet. Mo Greenwood, a freshman from Sharon, Mississippi, grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Southeastern shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the floor, including 40 percent (8-of-20) from 3-point range. The Lions were 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the free throw line.

Bell scored 18 and Malik Beasley chipped in 16 points to lead the Seminole offensive attack. Beasley also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

FSU shot 41.8 percent (23-of-55) from the floor, including 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from 3-point range. The Seminoles were 24-of-31 (77.4 percent) from the free throw line and out-rebounded Southeastern, 39-31.

Southeastern wraps up a two-game trip to Florida with a non-conference game Tuesday at 6 p.m. CST against cross-town Florida A&M.

The Southeastern Sports Radio Network broadcast of the game, with Lance Pittman on the call, can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online at www.LionSports.net or via the TuneIn Radio app.

Florida A&M (3-7) has dropped three-in-a-row since defeating Alcorn State, 73-71, back on Nov. 28 at the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic.

Malcolm Bernard (13.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Justin Ravenal (8.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and K'Ja Johnson (8.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg) are the Rattlers' top threats.

Florida A&M is shooting 40.7 percent (225-of-553) from the floor, including 30.4 percent (51-of-168) from 3-point range. The Rattlers are 139-of-233 (59.7 percent) from the free throw line and have been out-rebounded by opponents on average, 38.3-to-34.9 per game.

The Lions lead the all-time series, 4-0, having last faced each other Nov. 21, 2000, in a 76-65 Southeastern win at Florida A&M.


SOUTHEASTERN LA. (2-8)
Filmore, Joshua 8-16 0-0 19; Jackson, Zay 4-6 0-0 9; Cook, Dimi 3-4 0-0 7; Grieves, Daniel 2-5 0-0 6; Hawkins, Mike 2-7 0-0 5; Greenwood, Mo 1-3 1-2 3; Nelson, Dominic 0-0 3-4 3; Currington, James 1-5 0-0 2; Capps, Jordan 1-4 0-1 2; Veal, Marlain 0-3 2-4 2. Totals 22-53 6-11 58.

FLORIDA STATE (6-2)
Bell, Benji 5-6 4-6 18; Beasley, Malik 5-15 6-7 16; Cofer, Phil 2-3 5-6 9; Rathan-Mayes, Xavier 2-6 2-2 7; Mann, Terance 2-5 3-4 7; Bojanovsky, Boris 1-4 3-4 5; Brandon, Montay 2-2 0-0 4; Smith, Jarquez 1-2 1-2 3; Bacon, Dwayne 1-6 0-0 2; Saxton, Michael 1-3 0-0 2; Koumadje, Chris 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-55 24-31 75.

Southeastern La............. 22 36 - 58
Florida State.................... 29 46 - 75

3-point goals--Southeastern La. 8-20 (Filmore, Joshua 3-8; Grieves, Daniel 2-4; Hawkins, Mike 1-4; Jackson, Zay 1-2; Cook, Dimi 1-1; Capps, Jordan 0-1), Florida State 5-19 (Bell, Benji 4-4; Rathan-Mayes, Xavier 1-4; Mann, Terance 0-1; Bojanovsky, Boris 0-1; Smith, Jarquez 0-1; Bacon, Dwayne 0-2; Saxton, Michael 0-2; Beasley, Malik 0-4). Fouled out--Southeastern La.-None, Florida State-None. Rebounds--Southeastern La. 31 (Greenwood, Mo 6), Florida State 39 (Beasley, Malik 8). Assists--Southeastern La. 9 (Jackson, Zay 4), Florida State 17 (Rathan-Mayes, Xavier 11). Total fouls--Southeastern La. 21, Florida State 13. Technical fouls--Southeastern La.-None, Florida State-None. A-4992