HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana knew getting its 16
th straight home win would not be an easy task against Houston Baptist Saturday evening.
After all, the Huskies had taken an 81-74 win in Houston just over two weeks earlier and had defeated the Lions three straight times. And the task got tougher when HBU took a 38-33 halftime lead, the largest deficit at the break the Southeastern had faced in the University Center in 2016-17.
But after honoring Southeastern legend and 2017 Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer C.A. Core at the half, the Lions used a 19-4 run over a 5:18 span early in the second half to rally for an 83-71 Southland Conference victory.
"We just played Houston Baptist, a very big, physical basketball team compared to us and very well-coached and they beat us there," Southeastern head coach
Jay Ladner said. "We knew it was going to be a war. We prepared for that. From the opening tip, I don't think our players this year have been as locked in as they were tonight and I was very proud of them. They battled, they played together. You couldn't doubt their effort and their competitiveness and their pride. They gritted. It was a tough, hard-fought basketball game against a determined team that was desperate themselves to get a win and they came in and gave us their best shot."
Southeastern (12-8, 5-2 Southland) is now off to its best start in conference play since the 2004-05 season and its 16-game home winning streak is the longest since a 23-game streak from Feb. 22, 2003 to Feb. 5, 2005.
The Lions had five players in double figures for the second time this season, led by sophomore forward
Moses Greenwood with 17 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Junior guard
Davon Hayes contributed 16 points, five assists, two blocks and four rebounds. Sophomore guard
Marlain Veal had 11 points, seven boards and four assists while junior forward
James Currington added 10 points and seven rebounds. Southeastern out-rebounded HBU 35-30 and shot 50 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent (10-of-18) on 3-pointers.
HBU (7-11, 3-5) also had five players in double figures. Braxton Bonds had 13 points, Colter Lasher 12 and Reveal Chukwujekwu, Josh Ibarra and Alex Fountain 10 apiece. Chukwujekwu and Ibarra had six rebounds apiece. The Huskies shot 43.3 percent from the field but were held to 37.5 percent in the second half.
Southeastern opened the second half on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 40 as Veal scored off a steal by Singleton at the 17:13 mark. After Bonds quickly responded with a three-point play, Southeastern went on a 19-4 run over the next 5:14. Singleton drained two 3s and Veal drove the lane to put the Lions up 48-45 with 14:48 remaining.
Greenwood continued the run with a putback and Currington tossed in another rebound. Singleton found Currington driving the lane for a layup, then beat the shot clock for a 3 to give Southeastern a 59-47 lead at the 11:48 mark.
HBU cut the margin to 61-54 on a Bonds layup with 6:47 left. But Southeastern came back with an 8-1 run to push the lead up to 69-55 with 4:36 left behind a three-point play by sophomore guard
Dimi Cook and a dunk by Hayes.
The Huskies would get as close as 73-67 on a 3 by Asa Cantwell with 1:43 remaining. But Singleton drained a 3 with 1:09 left and Hayes and Singleton combined to hit six straight free throws.
Greenwood took a behind-the-back pass from Hayes on the break to give Southeastern a 7-4 lead at the 16:12 mark. Jalen Weber hit a jumper to give HBU its first lead at 8-7 with 14:17 left. Junior forward
Eddy Polanco lofted a pass inside to Veal to tie it at 11 with 13:11 remaining. But Fountain answered with a pair of 3s to give the Huskies a 19-14 lead with 11:08 left.
After a layup by Cook, HBU went on a 9-2 run to take a 28-18 lead at the 7:29 mark. Senior center
Dominic Nelson went in for a layup and Polanco hit two 3s to trim the deficit to 30-28 with 4:35 left. Jalon Gates countered with two 3s to push the lead back to 36-28 with 3:22 remaining. Veal knocked down a 3 and Polanco hit two free throws to pull the Lions to within 38-33 at the half.
The Lions wrap up a three-game homestand against Northwestern State Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
SOUTHEASTERN LA. 83, HBU 71
HBU (7-11, 3-5 SLC)
Bonds, Braxton 5-11 3-3 13; Lasher, Colter 5-8 0-0 12; Ibarra, Josh 2-6 6-8 10; Chukwujekwu, Reveal 4-8 2-2 10; Fountain, Alex 4-8 0-0 10; Cantwell, Asa 2-7 0-0 6; Gates, Jalon 2-8 0-0 6; Stetler, Cody 1-2 0-0 2; Weber, Jalen 1-2 0-0 2; Russell, Atif 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 11-13 71.
SOUTHEASTERN LA. (12-8, 5-2 SLC)
Greenwood, Moses 5-13 7-8 17; Hayes, Davon 4-10 5-6 16; Singleton, Jabbar 4-6 2-2 14; Veal, Marlain 5-9 0-1 11; Currington, James 5-8 0-0 10; Polanco, Eddy 2-6 2-2 8; Cook, Dimi 2-3 1-2 5; Nelson, Dominic 1-1 0-2 2; Corchiani, Michael 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 17-23 83.
HBU........................... 38 33 - 71
Southeastern La............... 33 50 - 83
3-point goals--HBU 8-23 (Cantwell, Asa 2-7; Fountain, Alex 2-4; Lasher, Colter 2-3; Gates, Jalon 2-7; Chukwujekwu, Reveal 0-1; Bonds, Braxton 0-1), Southeastern La. 10-18 (Singleton, Jabbar 4-6; Hayes, Davon 3-6; Polanco, Eddy 2-3; Veal, Marlain 1-2; Cook, Dimi 0-1). Fouled out--HBU-None, Southeastern La.-None. Rebounds--HBU 30 (Ibarra, Josh 6; Chukwujekwu, Reveal 6), Southeastern La. 35 (Greenwood, Moses 7; Currington, James 7; Veal, Marlain 7). Assists--HBU 11 (Cantwell, Asa 3), Southeastern La. 17 (Singleton, Jabbar 5; Hayes, Davon 5). Total fouls--HBU 22, Southeastern La. 18. Technical fouls--HBU-None, Southeastern La.-None. A-674
16th-Straight home win for Southeastern
