LAFAYETTE, La. – Junior guard Marlain Veal led four Lions in double figures with 23 points but Southeastern Louisiana could not overcome a pair of runs by UL Lafayette in falling 82-74 to the Ragin' Cajuns in the Cajundome Tuesday night.

    Veal added a team-high eight rebounds for the Lions (6-6). Junior forward Moses Greenwood contributed 14 points while senior forwards Jordan Capps had 12 and James Currington 11. Currington also had a career-high four steals. Southeastern shot 51.9 percent from the field, including 68 percent (17-of-25) in the second half.

    Jakeenan Gant (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Bryce Washington (12 points, 11 rebounds) both had double-doubles for UL Lafayette (10-2), which won its seventh straight. Frank Bartley had 13 points, Malik Marquetti 12, Marcus Stroman 11 and Johnathan Stove 10 for the Cajuns. UL Lafayette shot 44.4 percent overall and out-rebounded the Lions, 39-26, including 17-6 on the offensive boards.

    Southeastern got out to a 6-0 lead on a Currington jump hook at the 17:17 mark. Senior guard Jabbar Singleton scooped in a shot under the basket to extend the lead to 11-4 with 13:28 left. UL Lafayette pulled to within 13-9 on a Washington layup with 12:04 remaining. But Greenwood and Veal both converted three-point plays and senior guard Eddy Polanco scored off an inbounds from Singleton to make it 27-14 at the 8:22 mark.

    UL Lafayette countered with a 17-2 run to end the half. The Cajuns tied the game on a Washington dunk off a Marquetti assist with 4:04 left, then took their first lead on a Washington putback at the 3:14 mark. Washington spun in for another basket before Currington went in for a dunk off a Singleton outlet with 1:16 left to make it 31-29 at the half.

    A Bartley 3 pushed the UL Lafayette lead to 34-29 with 19:44 remaining. Southeastern came back to regain the lead at 39-38 on a Capps putback at the 16:23 mark. But the Cajuns again answered with an 8-0 run to take a 47-39 lead on a Marquetti layup with 14:28 left. After Veal dunked in a Polanco lob, Marquetti hit a 3 to make it 50-41 at the 13:07 mark.

    Veal converted another three-point play to cut the margin to 54-48 with 11:10 left. But Stove drove in and Bartley followed with a 3 to give UL Lafayette a 59-48 lead with 9:30 remaining.  The Cajuns went up 70-56 with 5:15 left as Washington found an open Bartley under the basket. A 7-0 run in the final minute got Southeastern to within 81-74 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Quinton Thomas.
 
QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
   "We shot 68 percent in the second half. We did well enough offensively, obviously, to win the basketball game in the second half and I was proud of that. I thought we did a good job of executing. We had a stretch there in the first half where we lost our composure a little bit and allowed them to get going. Up to that point, I thought we really controlled the game. I thought toward the end of the half we kind of settled it down again and then in the second half we kept going offensively. We have to get tougher. That is the second game in a row offensive rebounding has hurt us. We have to do a better job of being physical and blocking out and competing for rebounds because that ended up being the difference in the game."
           
UP NEXT:
   Southeastern closes out its non-conference schedule at Notre Dame Thursday at 6 p.m. (Central). The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra and broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.