HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana junior guard Davon Hayes scored nine straight points to break a 66-all tie as the Lions went on to their 15^th-straight home victory, 79-75, over McNeese in Southland Conference play Sunday afternoon in the University Center.

    Southeastern (11-8, 4-2) is off to its best conference start since the 2007-08 season. It is also the second –earliest date the Lions have reached 11 wins. The 2004-05 squad won its 11^th on Jan. 11.

    Southeastern's home win streak is its longest since it won 23 straight from Feb. 22, 2003 to Feb. 5, 2005. The Lions are 8-0 at home in 2006-17 and have not lost in the University Center since a 75-71 setback against Incarnate Word on Jan. 16, 2016.

    Hayes finished with 16 points, going 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Moses Greenwood led all scorers with 19 points and shared team rebounding honors with junior forward James Currington with seven apiece. Sophomore guard Marlain Veal had six assists and two steals while senior center Dominic Nelson blocked three shots. The Lions shot 50 percent overall from the field.

    McNeese (5-11, 2-3) made Southeastern work for the win, rallying from a 41-30 halftime deficit to take a 64-61 lead with 7:50 remaining. Stephen Ugochukwu had a double-double with 17 rebounds and 12 points. Kalob Ledoux led the Cowboys with 15 points while Jarren Greenwood had 14 and James Harvey 11. McNeese shot 45.2 percent from the field and held a 36-35 rebounding advantage.

    "Credit McNeese for not quitting," Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner said. "They are a very talented team and they came storming back there in the second half. But I was proud of our guys for regrouping instead of just going away. Bottom line is we won. We were 1-5 last year after the first six in the league and we're now 4-2 so I'm certainly proud of that. I just told the players this and I'll say it in an incredible up-beat manner, we have a lot of room to improve."

    McNeese took its only lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Ledoux. Southeastern tied it on two free throws by sophomore guard Dimi Cook, then went back up 66-64 on a jumper by Currington with 5:17 left.

    After Jarren Greenwood tied it at 66 on two free throws with 5:12 remaining. Hayes put the Lions ahead to stay with a pair with five minutes left. After hitting three of his next four free throws over the next two possessions, Hayes made a jumper with 3:18 remaining for a 73-68 lead.

    The Cowboys pulled to within two on a 3 by Harvey at the 2:30 mark before Hayes countered with two free throws with 2:06 left. Moses Greenwood then tossed in a jumper for a 77-72 lead with 1:14 remaining. Harvey knocked down another 3 with 39 seconds left but Currington tipped in a missed jumper by Moses Greenwood with 13 seconds for the final score. 

    Singleton hit a 3 to give Southeastern a 44-32 lead with 19:40 remaining. McNeese came back with an 11-2 run to get to within 48-43 on an Ugochukwu free throw with 15:17 left. Singleton answered with a 3 but a 16-8 surge allowed the Cowboys to tie the game at 59 on a 3 by Ledoux with 8:15 remaining.

    Southeastern took a 9-4 lead on a 3 by Hayes from the left wing at the 16:18 mark. McNeese went on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 9 on Ugochukwu's 3 with 14:14 left. The Lions countered with a 15-3 run as junior forward Eddy Polanco came off the bench to convert a three-point play and Veal followed with a steal and layup. Cook added a pair of layups for a 14-9 lead with 13:32 remaining in the half.

    After a 3 by Ledoux, Nelson put back his own missed dunk, Cook drove the lane and Veal found Hayes on the baseline for a 24-12 lead with 9:05 left. McNeese rallied with a 9-2 run to get to within 26-21 on a Harvey 3 with 6:49 remaining.

    Nelson skied for a putback and freshman guard Michael Corchiani had a 3 bounce high off the rim and in to build the lead back to 33-24 at the 4:40 mark. Nelson hit a short jumper to build the lead to 12 with 1:29 left. Veal then popped in a jumper in the paint at the buzzer to make it 41-30 at the half.

    Southeastern will take a break before hosting Houston Baptist on Saturday at 5 p.m. In conjunction with Saturday's contest, Southeastern will recognize Southeastern Athletics Hall of Famer C.A. Core at halftime, who will be inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame later this year.
 
SOUTHEASTERN LA. 79, MCNEESE 75
MCNEESE (5-11, 2-3 SLC)
Ledoux, Kalob 6-12 0-0 15; Greenwood, Jarren 5-9 4-6 14; Ugochukwu, Stephen 5-11 2-4 12; Harvey, James 3-8 2-2 11; Potier, Lance 4-6 0-0 9; Burr, Jamaya 3-11 3-4 9; Laku, Richard 1-2 0-0 3; Hill, LaBarrius 1-3 0-0 2; Brown, AJ 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas, Howard 0-0 0-0 0; Ledoux, Jacob 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 11-16 75.
SOUTHEASTERN LA. (11-8, 4-2 SLC)
Greenwood, Moses 9-13 1-4 19; Hayes, Davon 4-8 7-10 16; Polanco, Eddy 2-7 5-6 9; Cook, Dimi 1-3 6-6 8; Veal, Marlain 3-9 2-4 8; Nelson, Dominic 3-4 0-0 6; Singleton, Jabbar 2-4 0-2 6; Currington, James 2-5 0-0 4; Corchiani, Michael 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 27-54 21-32 79.
McNeese.......................   30   45  -   75
Southeastern La...............   41   38  -   79
3-point goals--McNeese 8-24 (Harvey, James 3-7; Ledoux, Kalob 3-6; Laku, Richard 1-1; Potier, Lance 1-2; Burr, Jamaya 0-5; Ugochukwu, Stephen 0-1; Greenwood, Jarren 0-2), Southeastern La. 4-12 (Singleton, Jabbar 2-4; Corchiani, Michael 1-1; Hayes, Davon 1-4; Veal, Marlain 0-1; Polanco, Eddy 0-2). Fouled out--McNeese-Potier, Lance; Ledoux, Kalob, Southeastern La.-None. Rebounds--McNeese 36 (Ugochukwu, Stephen 17), Southeastern La. 35 (Currington, James 7; Greenwood, Moses 7). Assists--McNeese 8 (Burr, Jamaya 5), Southeastern La. 16 (Veal, Marlain 6). Total fouls--McNeese 25, Southeastern La. 17. Technical fouls--McNeese-None, Southeastern La.-None. A-1353