BERKELEY, Calif. – Southeastern Louisiana cut a 22-point deficit to nine, but the Lions could not get any closer as California held on for a 67-55 victory Sunday night in Haas Pavilion.

    California (4-1) held a 40-22 halftime lead and went up 46-24 on an Ivan Rabb jumper with 16:11 remaining. But Southeastern (4-3) went on a 13-1 run, holding the Bears without a field goal for a 6:21 stretch. Senior center Dominic Nelson started the run with a jumper and freshman guard Michael Corchiani and sophomore guard Dimi Cook scored off layups to cut the deficit to 47-37 with 11:08 left. A layup by sophomore forward Moses Greenwood made it a nine-point game before Kingsley Okoroh tipped in a layup for a 50-39 lead at the 9:50 mark.

    Grant Mullins hit a 3 to push the margin back to 14 with 9:03 left. An Eddy Polanco layup cut it to 11 with 5:36 left but California answered, taking a 61-46 lead on a Mullins layup at the 4:58 mark. Polanco pulled the Lions to within 65-55 with 1:06 remaining. But Charlie Moore countered with a layup with 37 seconds left.

    "We got into some quick foul trouble," Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner said. "(Sophomore guard) Marlain Veal picked up three fouls within the first two minutes of the game and we really never got on track in the first half. It was kind of like a ship without a captain. Michael Corchiani came in and played a lot of minutes for us and did a good job for us. I thought after halftime, the guys did a great job of settling down and out-played Cal in the second half. We made a game of it and cut it down to nine and had a chance, we really felt like, to win it."

    Junior guard Davon Hayes led Southeastern with 11 points while Greenwood had 10. Both had six rebounds. Corchiani had eight points for the second straight game. The Lions shot 41.2 percent from the field and grabbed 31 rebounds.

    California had four players in double figures, led by Moore with 22. Rabb had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mullins added 13 points and Okoroh 10. The Bears shot 42.6 percent and pulled down 36 rebounds. 

    California held Southeastern to a free throw by Nelson over the first four minutes in jumping out to an 11-1 lead on a Rabb layup with 17:33 left. Greenwood scored off a pass from Hayes for the Lions' first field goal at the 16-minute mark.

    Neither team scored again until junior guard Jabbar Singleton hit two free throws with 12:56 left. Cal broke its five-minute scoreless spell with an Okoroh tip-in with 12:33 remaining. Greenwood hit a jumper but the Bears answered with a run to take a 22-9 lead on a 3-pointer by Don Coleman at the 8:40 mark. Hayes hit a 3 with 7:50 left, but the Bears went on an 8-0 run, taking a 30-12 advantage on two Rabb free throws with 4:02 remaining.

    Junior guard George Brock snapped the Lions' 4:03 scoreless period with a layup at the 3:47 mark. Moore knocked down a 3 to give Cal its biggest lead of the half at 38-16 with 2:24 left. Corchiani hit a 3 and Polanco drove in for a layup to cut the deficit to 40-22 at the half.

    Southeastern returns home to play Maryland-Eastern Shore on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Southeastern students are invited to take a Study Break with Lion Basketball as the first 300 students in attendance will receive a study pack. The game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. Live stats and streaming will be available at www.LionSports.net.