HAMMOND, La. –  The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team built up a 24-point second half lead before holding off a late rally by Xavier University of New Orleans to win, 77-70, Monday night in the 2019-20 home opener at the University Center.
                                                                                             
The Lions (1-1) forced the Gold Rush (4-3) into 25 turnovers and held them to 8-for-25 shooting in the first half helping SLU head coach David Kiefer pick up his first career win.
 
"It was good to get," said Kiefer. "I was a little frustrated at some things but it was nice to get that one. I told the guys after the game that every win is hard to get in college basketball and this one was no different."
 
SLU built a 41-17 lead early in the second half before Xavier rallied to cut it to five, 57-52, with 8:19 to go. The Lions responded with a 15-4 run to stretch the lead to 72-56 with 4:33 remaining on their way to the win.
 
"I thought our guys competed the entire game," said Kiefer. "But again, we had a lot of immature freshman mistakes which we have a lot of so we expect that. But our effort was good for 40 minutes."
 
Southeastern was led by freshman Nick Caldwell with 15 points and five rebounds.  Sophomore Ty Brewer added 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting but picked up his fourth foul with 12 minutes to go.
 
After a tough night shooting in the season-opener at Tulane, the Lions responded by drilled 10 three-pointers and shooting 13-for-18 from the free throw line.
 
The Gold Rush, who shot 19-for-26 in the second half, were led by William Loyd with 20 points while TJ Jones added 12 to pace Xavier.
 
Next up, the Lions will take on Grambling (2-0) Wednesday at home at 7 p.m.
 
The Southeastern Sports Network will offer a free video stream of Wednesday's game. Tune in online at www.LionSports.net or the Lions' Gameday Experience app for Android or iOS devices. Fans can also watch on Southeastern's YouTube channel (SLUathletics) with any mobile, tablet or smart TV device (e.g., Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV and Roku).
 
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 @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.