HAMMOND, La. – The mark of champions is how they handle adversity and the 2018-19 Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team has had their share of it.
 
A month ago, SLU, the reigning Southland Conference champions, found themselves in a tough spot. The Lions were 4-12 overall and 0-3 in the Southland Conference following a 75-72 loss to Abilene Christian at home.
 
Since then, the Lions have won eight of their last nine games including five straight road wins in Southland Conference play. SLU has also outrebounded opponents 306-243 and is allowing just 64.5 points per game in the last nine games as the Lions appear to have regained the magic from a year ago.
 
While SLU had a slow start, fifth-year SLU head basketball coach Jay Ladner never once lost confidence in his guys.
 
 "I knew that we had a group of high character young men that have been part of teams that have won championships and have been successful as individuals," said Ladner. "We just needed to tighten some things up."
 
But it was way before the loss to ACU that Ladner could see that this team was turning things around.
 
The Lions opened the season with three road games in a week at 19^th-ranked LSU (20-4, 10-1 SEC), 15^th-ranked Texas Tech (20-5, 8-4 Big 12) and Nebraska, who started the season 12-2 before they were hit with injuries.
 
Despite the gauntlet early season schedule, the Lions still found themselves in pretty good shape at 4-4 after a thrilling, 62-61, victory at Tulane. Senior Marlain Veal drilled a three-pointer with two seconds left to give SLU the win over the Greenwave.
 
After a hard-fought loss to Ole Miss (17-7, 7-4 SEC) in Jackson, Mississippi and a setback at home to California Baptist, SLU was about to get the wake-up call they needed.
 
It was the Dec. 19th game at Grambling that opened SLU's eyes. The Lions lost a heartbreaker to reigning SWAC champion and preseason conference favorite Grambling, 68-67. Southeastern led GSU, 63-49, after a three-pointer by senior D'Angelo West with 7:38 remaining. The Tigers rallied back and won the game on two free-throws with 1.4 seconds remaining.
 
"We just did a poor job of finishing that game," said Ladner. "We played really well for 36 minutes and you could see the improvement in our team even though we didn't finish well."
 
While the loss to Grambling put the Lions on the right track, 'lady luck' was against SLU.
 
Southeastern lost eight straight games including five in the final seconds. The Lions lost at Bradley, 63-60, after Darrell Brown hit a three-pointer with four seconds left to give the Braves the win. SLU, then, returned home to face reigning Sun Belt Conference champion UL Lafayette. The Lions lost, 73-72, when Jakeenan Gant got open for a dunk with three seconds left to give the Ragin Cajuns the win.
 
SLU was still trying to get over the hump as they opened Southland play at reigning conference tournament champion Stephen F. Austin. The Lions led 26-21 at halftime and fought gamely before the Lumberjacks held on to edge SLU, 65-60.
 
Southeastern returned home seemingly poised to get things turned around. But the final second demons continued to haunt the Lions in a 73-71 loss to Central Arkansas as UCA's Matthew Mondesir tipped in an offensive rebound with .9 seconds left.
 
SLU was snake bitten again the following game against Abilene Christian (20-5, 9-3 Southland). With the game tied at 72-72, ACU's Payton Ricks drilled a three-pointer with two seconds left to hand the Lions, yet another, crushing defeat in the final moments.
 
"I think it was a combination of a lot of things," said Ladner. "First of all I'm disappointed in myself. I didn't do a good job of preparing us for a rigorous schedule that I was responsible for putting together. We had our confidence shaken by LSU, Nebraksa and Texas Tech, all teams that have been in the top 25 at some point. I also believe we had some entitlement based on the success we had last year and we got away from what built that success, but that again is all on me."
 
While the 2018-19 season has, indeed, been a roller coaster of emotions for Ladner and the Lions, the early season setbacks could all simply be part of destiny for one of the greatest turn arounds in sports history.
 
In the infamous words of legendary fictional character Rocky Balboa, "It's not how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."
 
The first half of the season may have seemed like the first two rounds of Rocky IV when Ivan Drago had Rocky on the ropes. But just like Rocky, the Lions weathered the storm and have shown they are ready to battle.
 
INSIDE SOUTHEASTERN BASKETBALL WITH JAY LADNER
Each Monday night at 7 p.m., beginning Jan. 7th, 'Inside Southeastern Basketball with Jay Ladner' broadcasts live on 90.9 KSLU from Rainbow Daiquiris at 14384 West Thomas Street. Talk college hoops with Coach Ladner and host Allen Waddell, cover the finer points of each game and preview upcoming games. If you can't join the crowd, you can submit a question at www.LionSports.net for the "Ask the Coach" segment. Inside Southeastern Basketball with Jay Ladner airs each Monday night during the Lions' Southland Conference schedule on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network.
 
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.