AMES, Iowa – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team trailed by just eight points at halftime before 11^th-ranked Iowa State pulled away for the 77-54 win Sunday at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.     
 
Gus Okafor, the Lions' season leader in scoring, led SLU with 13 points and eight rebounds while Ryan Burkhardt added nine points on 3-for-8 shooting, including three 3-pointers, led SLU (4-8).
 
Nick Caldwell and Keon Clergeot each had seven points for the Lions. Clergeot, out of Winter Haven, Florida, has now scored 1,000 points for his collegiate career.
 
The Cyclones (11-0) had three players in double figures led by Caleb Grill with 20 points, including six three-pointers. ISU's leading scorer for the season, Izaiah Brockington, had 17 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double while Aljaz Kunc had 13.
 
SLU battled step-for-step early in the game with the Cyclones as they trailed, 14-12, with 7:46 left in the first half. ISU, however, pushed out to an eight-point halftime lead, 25-17.
 
Southeastern continued to push the upset bid as they kept the deficit at eight, 31-23, with 15:49 to go. The Lions remained competitive as they trailed by just 11, 43-32 with 10:56 left. However, ISU went on a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 19-point lead and put the game out of reach.
 
ISU remains one of six unbeaten teams in Division I (358 teams) which also includes top-ranked Baylor (10-0), eighth-ranked Arizona (11-0), 10^th-ranked USC (12-0), 19^th-ranked LSU (11-0), 23^rd-ranked Colorado State (10-0).


Despite the loss, the Lions were very sharp in several key areas. SLU allowed just four second chance points and turned the ball over just 13 times, the second lowest number for an ISU opponent this year (Iowa, 12 – Dec. 9).
 
The Lions also played without the team's leading rebounder and Southland's leading shot blocker Jalyn Hinton with a migraine headache, along with Antonio Gordon.
 
"They (ISU) usually are turning teams over at a high rate and getting second chances points," said SLU head coach David Kiefer. "But I think we really did a good job of sharing the basketball and really competed well defensively. We just ran out of gas late in that game."
 
Next up, Southeastern will take on Iowa (8-3) Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT in Iowa City, Iowa.
 
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.