THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team got a season best scoring night out of
Christian Agnew, but his contributions couldn't overcome a Nicholls State team that hit just more than half of its 23 three-point attempts as the Lions fell to the Colonels 88-73 Thursday night at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.
Both teams were slow to start, though Southeastern would enjoy their biggest lead of the game in those opening minutes as a
Nick Caldwell lay-up gave the Lions a 6-3 lead with 14:30 left in the first half. That lead would be equaled a few minutes later as Agnew got to the rim for a lay-up to bump the SLU advantage back to three points at 8-3.
However, the next 10 points all went to Nicholls and the Lions would not lead again in the contest. After a pair of
Sami Pissis free throws cut the Colonels lead down to 20-17 with eight minutes left before halftime, Nicholls blew the score open with a 24-5 run to give the Colonels a 44-22 lead with a minute left before halftime. SLU outscored Nicholls 4-1 down the stretch, including a buzzer-beating lay-up by
Roscoe Eastmond, to cut the deficit to 19 points at 45-26 at halftime.
Southeastern found itself trailing by 26 points in the second half at 69-43, but started a rally to try to get back into the game as a
Brody Rowbury free throw started a 16-5 SLU run to cut the deficit down to 15 points at 74-59 with six minutes left. The Lions cut it down to 14 twice in the closing moments. A
Mehdi Pissis three made it 81-67 with two minutes left and a
Boogie Anderson lay-up with less than 1:30 left made it 83-69, but the Lions would get no closer.
Agnew set new season highs in both points and rebounds, scoring 22 points with five rebounds in the contest as he hit eight shots, three of which were three-pointers. Anderson was the long other player to score in double figures with 17 points as he went eight of 12 from the field while grabbing four rebounds. Rowbury was one point away from a double-double as he finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.
SLU shot 53.6% in the second half, but hit just five of their 21 attempts from above the arc with all of their makes from deep coming in the last 20 minutes. However, Nicholls hit 50% or better in both halves, including 12 of 23 from above the three-point arc.
The Lions (5-6, 0-1 SLC) look to rebound at home on Saturday back outside of conference as Troy comes to Hammond. Tip off of Saturday's game against the Trojans (7-4) is set for 1:00 P.M. at the University Center and will be streamed on ESPN+.
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. 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.
