HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana held Southland Conference front-runner New Orleans to a season-low 32.7 percent from the field but could not overcome a cold spell of its own in a 60-52 loss to the Privateers in the University Center Saturday night.
The Lions (13-13, 6-7 Southland) went scoreless over an 8:17 span of the second half in dropping their season-high third straight game and fifth in their last six.
Sophomore guard
Marlain Veal had 14 points and six assists to lead Southeastern but also turned the ball over a season-high 10 times. Senior center
Dominic Nelson grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. He also blocked four shots to climb to number six on the Lions' all-time season list with 53. Southeastern shot 37.5 percent, including 25 percent on 3-pointers, and turned the ball over 23 times in being held to its season low in points.
New Orleans (15-9, 10-3 Southland) won its third straight behind a 20-point, 12-rebound effort by Erik Thomas. Christavious Gill added 16 points and Tevin Broyles 10. Each team had 41 rebounds while the Privateers were 19-of-27 from the line compared to Southeastern's 6-of-12.
"It was a tough one," Southeastern head coach
Jay Ladner said. "Generally when you hold someone to 32 percent from the field, you have to win the game. We rebounded with them but we can't survive with our amount of turnovers. I think turnovers and the foul differential – and I'm not blaming the officiating – in allowing them to shoot 27 free throws compared to our 12 was the difference in the game. I congratulate UNO. I was proud of our guys just for their physical effort, but we just didn't play well enough to win."
Sophomore forward
Moses Greenwood hit a jumper to give Southeastern a 39-36 lead with 10:45 remaining. But New Orleans went on an 11-0 run to go up 47-39 on two Gill free throws with 4:49 left.
Junior forward
Eddy Polanco ended the Lions' drought with a 3 at the 2:28 mark. Polanco then grabbed a steal, leading to a Veal 3 that brought Southeastern to within 47-45 with 2:16 left. After Thomas hit a jumper, junior forward
James Currington added one of his own to make it 49-47 with 1:29 remaining.
But Gill answered with a 3 and after a turnover, Nate Frye made two free throws to give New Orleans a 54-47 lead with 31 seconds left.
Southeastern used a 7-2 run over the first 4:11 of the second half to erase a 27-23 halftime deficit. Junior guard
Jabbar Singleton buried a 3 and Currington drove in to put the Lions up 28-27 at the 19:07 mark. After a putback by Nelson, Veal hit a jumper to make it 32-29 with 15:33 left.
A Greenwood jumper and a Veal free throw gave Southeastern a 37-32 lead at the 11:54 remaining. A Thomas 3 cut the margin to 37-36 at the 10:59 mark.
Southeastern hit six of its first eight shots to take a 15-5 lead on a jumper by junior forward
Davon Hayes with 13:30 left in the opening half. But New Orleans countered with a 10-0 run to tie it at 15-15 as Thomas scored off a Travin Thibodeaux steal at the 9:07 mark.
Greenwood ended the run with a jumper with 7:51 left. Sophomore guard
Dimi Cook followed with a pair of layups to give the Lions a 21-15 lead with 5:44 remaining.
New Orleans again rallied as Thomas hit a 3 and a layup to make it 21-20 at the 3:26 mark. The Privateers then took their first lead at 23-22 on two Gill free throws with 2:29 left. After Singleton tied it with a free throw, Makur Puou drove in for a layup and Frye hit a jumper to give New Orleans a 27-23 halftime lead.
Southeastern will look to avenge an earlier 85-71 home loss to Northwestern State when the Lions travel to Natchitoches on Thursday for an 8 p.m. tip-off against the Demons.
