KATY, Texas – The second-seeded Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team held third-seeded UNO to 40 percent shooting in a 74-65 victory Friday night in the 2022 Southland Conference Tournament semifinals at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

 
With the win, Southeastern advances to the Southland Conference Tournament Championship where it will face fourth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders upset top-seeded Nicholls, in the first semifinals Friday by a score of 71-64.

 
The Lions (19-13, 10-4 SLC) were led by Joe Kasperzyk with 19 points. But Jaylin Hinton was terrific with 16 points along with 13 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season. The Southland's Defensive Player of the Year also blocked seven shots, the most by a Lion since Devonte Upson blocked seven again UNO back on Feb. 23, 2015.

 
Freshman Roger McFarlane came off the bench to aid SLU's efforts, scoring 13 points, while Lions' senior Keon Clergeot was stuck with foul trouble. Ryan Burkhardt added 10 points to pace Southeastern.

 
The Privateers (18-12, 10-4 SLC) got 24 points from first team All-Southland selection Troy Green. But SLU's defense on Derek St. Hilaire, also a first team selection, was the difference. The Lions held Green to just 4-for-20 shooting for 12 points.

 
In the first half, the game went as expected with both teams battling step-for-step. Southeastern, however, finished the first half on a 7-0 to break a 32-32 tie. The Lions led 39-32 at the half as Hinton and Kasperzyk both scored nine points in the first 20 minutes.

 
UNO opened the second half on a 6-0 run to cut the Lions' lead to 39-38.  The game featured five ties over the next eight minutes of action before Southeastern took a 68-64 advantage with 1:39 left.


Hinton and McFarlane scored the final six points as SLU finished the game on a 9-1 run as it punched its ticket to the Southland Tournament Title game for the first time since 2018.


 
Southeastern shot 26-for-55 (47.3 percent) from the field while shooting 7-for-25 (28 percent) from three-point range. The Lions are now just three three-pointers away from breaking the all-time Southland record of 287 held by Sam Houston (2010). SLU was also 15-for-18 from the free throw line to help clinch the win, including 7-for-8 in the second half.

 

The Lions will turn their attention to A&M-Corpus Christi (22-11, 7-7 Southland) as the only hurdle remaining in their quest to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
 

SLU and A&M-Corpus Christi split their two regular season matchups with the Islanders defeating the Lions, without Clergeot, 86-71, at the University Center. The Lions returned the favor with an 84-75 win in Corpus Christi, Texas. The two teams have never met in the Southland Tournament.

 
Fans can watch the live broadcast of Saturday's championship game as it will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Dave Saltzman and Ben Braun will have the play-by-play. Links to live stats will also be available at the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page at LionSports.Net.


 
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.
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