HAMMOND, La. – Jordan Capps dominated the University Center paint Monday, scoring 29 points and hauling in 19 rebounds to lead Southeastern Louisiana to an 84-82 Southland Conference win over Northwestern State in the Lions' home finale.
Southeastern (10-19, 8-8 Southland) won for the seventh-consecutive time on its home court, the program's longest such streak in four seasons. With the win, the Lions locked down the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Southland tournament in Katy, Texas.
"We didn't play our best," head coach
Jay Ladner said. "We just had trouble clicking. I wasn't happy with our performance, but I was happy to see us get a win when we didn't play as well as we could have."
The Lions jumped out to an early 7-2 lead on a
Marlain Veal 3-pointer and a pair of baskets by Capps, but Northwestern State methodically chipped away until it took a 13-12 lead just past the midway point of the first half on Tra'von Joseph's 3-pointer (9:54).
The Lions clawed back from seven down to tie the game, 26-26, needing just over one minute on the clock for a basket from Capps to go along with five points from
JaMichael Hawkins.
With two more 3-pointers inside the final 1:15 of the half, Hawkins gave the Lions a 36-35 lead heading into halftime.
Capps, a junior from Norcross, Georgia, gave Southeastern a 5-point lead early in the second half, laying the ball in with 18:08 to play in the game.
Northwestern State came back to tie the game, 46-46, on a 3-pointer by Matt Killian at the 13:45 mark. It would be another six minutes before either team would enjoy a multi-possession lead.
Joshua Filmore, a junior from Orlando, Florida, drilled a 3-pointer with 6:55 to play, putting the Lions up, 63-59, but again the Demons came back to tie the game.
Southeastern pushed back in front by five once again, 70-65, but failed to hold on to the lead.
The Lions regained the lead for good, 75-73, on a Filmore 3-pointer at the 3:03 mark.
The two teams found themselves tied 10 different times throughout the course of the game and the lead changed hands another 12 times.
Capps' career highs led all players. Hawkins (14),
Moses Greenwood (13) and
Zay Jackson (10) each contributed double-digit points to the Lions' offensive effort.
Southeastern shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the floor, including 40.0 percent (8-of-20) from 3-point range. The Lions converted 16-of-21 (76.2 percent) from the free throw line and out-rebounded the Demons, 43-33.
Zeek Woodley led the Demons with 21 points, fouling out in the game's final minutes. Devonte Hall (20), Sabri Thompson (18) and Tra'von Joseph (11) also scored in double figures.
Northwestern State shot 44.9 percent (31-of-69) from the floor, including 28.6 percent (8-of-28) from 3-point range. The Demons converted 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) from the free throw line.
Southeastern wraps up the regular season with a pair of games Thursday at the University of New Orleans and Saturday at Nicholls.
SOUTHEASTERN LA. 84, NORTHWESTERN STATE 82NORTHWESTERN STATE (8-18, 5-11 SLC)Woodley, Zeek 8-16 3-4 21; Hall, Devonte 8-16 3-3 20; Thompson, Sabri 7-18 1-2 18; Joseph, Tra'von 4-9 2-2 11; Lane, Ishmael 2-5 2-4 6; Killian, Matt 2-3 1-2 6; Welcome, Ta'Jon 0-0 0-0 0; Walker, Bailey 0-0 0-0 0; Metoyer, Malik 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 31-69 12-17 82.SOUTHEASTERN LA. (10-19, 8-8 SLC)Capps, Jordan 12-19 5-7 29; Hawkins, JaMichael 5-12 0-0 14; Greenwood, Moses 4-5 5-6 13; Jackson, Zay 3-13 3-4 10; Filmore, Joshua 3-6 0-0 8; Veal, Marlain 1-1 1-2 4; Currington, James 2-4 0-0 4; Cook, Dimi 0-3 2-2 2; Nelson, Dominic 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 30-64 16-21 84.Northwestern State.......... 35 47 - 82Southeastern La............... 36 48 - 843-point goals--Northwestern State 8-28 (Thompson, Sabri 3-11; Woodley, Zeek 2-8; Joseph, Tra'von 1-2; Killian, Matt 1-2; Hall, Devonte 1-4; Metoyer, Malik 0-1), Southeastern La. 8-20 (Hawkins, JaMichael 4-10; Filmore, Joshua 2-4; Jackson, Zay 1-5; Veal, Marlain 1-1).
Fouled out—Northwestern State-Woodley, Zeek, Southeastern La.-None.
Rebounds--Northwestern State 33 (Woodley, Zeek 7), Southeastern La. 43 (Capps, Jordan 19).
Assists--Northwestern State 15 (Hall, Devonte 7), Southeastern La. 20 (Filmore, Joshua 9).
Total fouls--Northwestern State 21, Southeastern La. 16.
Technical fouls--Northwestern State-None, Southeastern La.-None.
A-1050
