HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana got a "100" on its first test following its break for final exams.
Actually, it was a "108" as the Lions rolled to their 12
th straight victory in the University Center, 108-69, over Florida A&M Monday night.
The 108 points were the most by Southeastern (6-4) since a 108-98 double-overtime win at Incarnate Word on Jan. 17, 2015. They were the most in regulation since a 108-54 win over Champion Baptist on Nov. 14, 2013 and the most against a Division I opponent since a 108-107 win over Southern-Baton Rouge on Dec. 6, 1997. It was the first time the Lions cracked the 100-point mark since a 101-65 win over Loyola-New Orleans on Dec. 1, 2015.
We knew Florida A&M had a good team and their overall record was not indicative of the type of team they had," said Southeastern head coach
Jay Ladner, whose team had not played in nine days. "Overall, I thought it was a great win. We were able to extend our home winning streak. We talked about it, that some teams don't handle the holidays well and they will get out of that routine of class and everything and get lazy and lethargic. I felt with the way our team practiced this week we would have a good effort tonight, but if you would have said we would win by that margin and have a chance to play all of our players a good bit, I would have been surprised."
All 11 Lions who saw action scored as Southeastern shot 58 percent from the field, 68.6 percent as it scored a season-high 60 points in the second half. The Lions also made 9-of-14 3-pointers, pulled down 40 rebounds and had 25 assists and 16 steals.
Junior forward
Davon Hayes, coming off the bench for the first time this season, led the way with a career-high 29 points. Hayes hit a career-best 7-of-10 3-pointers and was 9-of-14 overall from the field. Sophomore forward
Moses Greenwood went 10-of-12 from the field in tying a career high with 23 points. He added seven rebounds to tie team honors with senior center
Dominic Nelson. Junior guard
Eddy Polanco added 13 points while sophomore guard
Marlain Veal had 12 points, four assists and five steals.
"We made a little bit of a change in the lineup with Davon," Ladner said. "Good players will respond when they get some adversity and he did. He just had an incredible night."
Florida A&M (2-8) was led by Desmond Williams with 18 points and three steals. Marcus Barham added 14 points and Derrick Dandridge 10. Trey-Cary Warren, K'Ja Johnson and Leon Williams had four rebounds apiece. The Rattlers shot 44.1 percent from the field and had 26 rebounds.
After a ragged start, Southeastern scored six points in a 19-second span as Nelson scored off a pass from junior guard
Jabbar Singleton. Greenwood drove in after stealing the ensuing inbounds pass and Polanco went in off a steal following a trap on the left side to make it 9-5 at the 15:56 mark.
"We were a little rusty to begin the game," Ladner said. We got into the press early to pick up our tempo and intensity level and were able to force a couple of quick turnovers and kind if flipped the game around. I thought that was a great starting point for us.
After the first media timeout, Singleton scored off another steal by Veal, then knocked down a 3. Nelson drove the lane for a dunk for a 16-5 Lion lead with 14:32 left in the half. A Polanco 3 from the left corner and a Greenwood layup off a Veal feed capped the 18-0 run that made it 21-5 with 13:09 remaining.
Desmond Williams hit a jumper in the paint following a steal to break a 4:29 scoreless spell for the Rattlers at the 12:18 mark. Southeastern came back with a 7-2 run to open up a 28-9 lead with 10:20 left on a 3 from the right wing by Hayes. A Dandridge jumper capped a 13-4 run by Florida A&M, but Hayes answered with a 3 to make it 35-22 at the 7:46 mark.
The Rattlers got the deficit down to eight on a 3 by Barham with 4:29 left. Veal came back with a runner in the lane. Polanco added a layup and a pair of free throws to give the Lions a 48-32 halftime lead. The 48 points were the most in a first half by Southeastern this season.
Southeastern opened the second half on a 9-2 run with a Veal 3 and a Greenwood jumper making it 57-34 with 16:30 remaining. Hayes then scored 16 points over a 3:42 span, knocking down four 3s and adding a dunk and a layup to extend the lead to 75-43 with 11:46 remaining.
The barrage continued as sophomore guard
Dimi Cook, freshman guard
Chris Mejia and Hayes hit 3s to make it 89-50 with 8:10 left. A Greenwood layup got the Lions over the 100-point mark with 4:24 remaining.
Southeastern will open a two-game road trip before the Christmas holidays at Toledo Saturday at 6 p.m. (CDT). The Lions then travel to North Texas for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Dec. 20.
