HAMMOND, La. –   The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team had four players score in double figures and used a 12-0 run in the final 3:29 to battle past Central Arkansas, 69-57, Wednesday night at the University Center.
 
The Lions (5-11, 3-4 Southland) were led by sophomore Isiah Kirby who recorded his first career double-double. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida native finished with a game-high 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
 
"Kirby was absolutely phenomenal tonight for us," said SLU head coach David Kiefer. "He was completely locked in and engaged. It was really good to see him have a game like this because of hard he works to put himself in that position."
 
Keon Clergeot, the Lions' leading scorer, added 15 points while Joe Kasperzyk and Gus Okafor had 13 and 10 respectively. Sophomore Nick Caldwell added 10 rebounds for SLU.
 
The Bears (3-12, 2-5 Southland) got 13 points from preseason first team All-Southland selection Rylan Burgersen while Collin Cooper, in just his second game of the season, had 10 points.
 
SLU jumped out to an 11-5 lead early in the game before UCA rallied to tie the game at 24-24 with 6:43 left in the first half. The Lions retook the lead late in the first half as they went on an 13-6 run to take a 37-30 lead at halftime.
 
Southeastern pushed their lead to 10 early in the second half, 42-32, but the Bears rallied again, tying the game at 54-54 with 6:26 to go.
 
With 3:29 left and the game tied at 57-57, SLU went on a 12-0 run highlighted by Clergeot who scored seven of his 15 points during the game-deciding run as the Lions picked up the win.
 
SLU improved their record to 9-1 all-time at home against UCA who played their final game in the University Center as a member of the Southland Conference. The Bears will be moving to the Atlantic Sun Conference next season.
 
The Lions finished the game 22-for-57 (38 percent) from the field and 18-for-25 from the free throw line. UCA was 22-for-51 (43 percent) and 8-14 at the free throw line. SLU also outrebounded the Bears 39-32, including 13 offensive rebounds, and forced UCA into 19 turnovers.
 
"Central Arkansas is a well-coached team," said Kiefer. "They have so much size and talent that you have to be in tune with everything they are trying to do. And I thought our guys definitely did that tonight defensively which led to a lot of our success."
 
Southeastern will wrap up their three-game homestand Saturday afternoon 4 p.m. when they host the University of New Orleans (4-11, 3-4 Southland) in the University Center.
 
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.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.