BATON ROGUE, La. – LSU defeated the reigning Southland Conference Champion Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team 94-63 Tuesday night at the Maravich Assembly Center in the season opener for both teams.
 
SLU hung tough early on as they trailed 19-11 halfway through the first half. However, the Tigers used a 29-7 run to pull away from the Lions 48-18 at intermission.
 
"We have to be more competitive than we were tonight," said SLU men's head basketball coach Jay Ladner. "Clearly LSU was the better team and they are certainly talented but that effort just wasn't good enough.  But we will use this as a learning curve and motivation to get better."
 
Despite the tough night, Southeastern freshman Parker Edwards stole the show and the hearts of LSU fans. A native of Mandeville, Louisiana, he checked into the game with 11 minutes remaining and promptly drilled six 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 25 points. Edwards, the St. Paul's graduate, had the crowd of 10,513 chanting "MVP" in the final minutes. SLU's Moses Greenwood also had a solid night with 12 points and seven rebounds.
 
"Thank goodness for Parker or it would have been way worse," said Ladner. "But he was certainly the bright spot. Sometimes you have to look for that in games like this and he certainly came through."
 
Even with Edwards' heroics, LSU had too much fire power with six scoring in double figures including Naz Reid (17), Marlon Taylor (15), Emmitt Williams (12), Darius Days (11) Daryl Edwards (11) and Ja'vonte Smart (10).
 
The Tigers' size and athleticism in the paint was relentless. They outrebounded the Lions 43 to 32 and got 19 offensive rebounds. SLU committed 20 turnovers to LSU's nine.
 
The good news for the Lions is they won't have to wait long to move past Tuesday. Southeastern opens the home schedule Friday night at home against William Carey at 7 p.m.
 
Fans can listen to the play-by-play of Friday's game on 90.9 KSLU or online at LionSports.net on the men's basketball schedule page.
 
HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
 
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners.
 
All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @SLU_Hoops and @CoachLadner on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

BOX SCORE
 
Southeastern Louisiana vs LSU
11/6/18 8:07 p.m. at Maravich Center (Baton Rouge, La.)
 
LSU 94, SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 63
 
SLU:
Parker Edwards 7-9 5-7 25; Moses Greenwood 5-8 1-2 12; Ty Brewer 4-6 0-1 8;
Quinton Thomas 2-4 2-3 6; Maxwell Starwood 2-4 0-0 4; Brandon Gonzalez 0-1
2-2 2; Von Julien 1-5 0-0 2; Kajon Brown 1-4 0-0 2; D'Angelo West 0-1 1-2 1;
Marlain Veal 0-5 1-2 1; Patrick Bosetta 0-0 0-0 0; Matthew Strange 0-0 0-0
0; Jeremiah Saunders 0-4 0-0 0; Keith Charleston 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-54
12-19 63.
 
LSU: (1-0)
Naz REID 6-13 4-4 17; Marlon TAYLOR 5-8 4-6 15; Emmitt WILLIAMS 5-7 2-4 12;
Darius DAYS 3-7 4-4 11; Skylar MAYS 5-8 0-0 11; Ja'vonte SMART 4-7 1-2 10;
Tremont WATERS 3-7 2-2 9; K. BIGBY-WILLIAMS 1-2 5-7 7; Marshall GRAVES 0-3
2-2 2; Will REESE 0-3 0-0 0; Daryl EDWARDS 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-66 24-31 94.

Southeastern Louisiana........   18   45  -   63
LSU......................................   48   46  -   94
 
3-point goals--Southeastern Louisiana 7-23 (Parker Edwards 6-8; Moses
Greenwood 1-2; Quinton Thomas 0-1; Brandon Gonzalez 0-1; Von Julien 0-1;
Kajon Brown 0-1; D'Angelo West 0-1; Marlain Veal 0-3; Jeremiah Saunders 0-2;
Keith Charleston 0-3), LSU 6-24 (Tremont WATERS 1-2; Ja'vonte SMART 1-4; Naz
REID 1-5; Skylar MAYS 1-2; Darius DAYS 1-4; Marlon TAYLOR 1-3; Will REESE
0-1; Daryl EDWARDS 0-1; Marshall GRAVES 0-2).
Fouled out—Southeastern Louisiana-Moses Greenwood, LSU-None.
Rebounds--Southeastern Louisiana 32 (Moses Greenwood 7), LSU 43 (Emmitt WILLIAMS 10).
Assists—Southeastern Louisiana 8 (Marlain Veal 5), LSU 14 (Darius DAYS 2; Skylar MAYS 2; Naz REID 2; Ja'vonte SMART 2; Tremont WATERS 2; Daryl EDWARDS 2).
A-10513
 
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