AUBURN, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team saw
Roger McFarlane pick up the team's first double-double of the season, but it wasn't enough to overcome (RV)/(RV) Auburn as the Lions fell to the Tigers 86-71 Friday night at Neville Arena.
The Lions (1-1) had the start they wanted as
Roscoe Eastmond took a long rebound and beat the Auburn defense down the floor for a lay-up and an early 2-0 lead. Later, a shot by
Brody Rowbury in the paint reestablished a Southeastern lead at 4-3 just three minutes into the contest.
But that's where both teams entered a bit of a slump until Auburn, a team receiving votes in both major polls - the Associated Press &
USA Today Coaches Poll, started to emerge from theirs with a bucket and foul to take the lead for good with 15:16 left in the first half. While SLU continued to struggle from the field, the Tigers started an 11-0 run as a three-pointer with just less than 13:00 left in the half gave Auburn its first double-digit lead at 14-4. Even after
Roger McFarlane hit a pair of free throws, the lid still wasn't broken off the SLU basket as the Auburn run continued, extending out to a 17-2 run to make the score 20-6 with less than 9:30 left in the first half before a McFarlane three finally broke the lid.
That McFarlane three got him in rhythm as he went on a personal 8-0 run, hitting another three to cut the deficit down to six points at 20-14 with 6:45 left in the half. But Auburn responded by scoring the next seven to push the lead back out to 13 points at 27-14 with 4:30 left before the break. The Tiger lead reached a first half peak of 15 points on a three-pointer with two minutes left before Eastmond scored five-straight to cut it to 10 at 37-27 with less than a minute remaining before halftime. Auburn would take a 39-28 lead into the break.
Auburn came out of the locker room and immediately hit back-to-back three-pointers to put its advantage out to the largest of the entire game at 17 points, 45-28. After the two teams traded buckets to make it 47-30 Tigers, the Lions tried to chip away, getting the deficit down to 12 points as Eastmond completed an old-fashioned three-point play with 16:32 left to make it 47-35. Auburn answered, getting the lead back up to 17 on a lay-up which made the score 55-38 with 13:30 left.
Trailing 61-46 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest, Southeastern made one last run to get back into the contest as a lay-up by
Avery Wilson started SLU on an 8-0 spurt to cut the lead under double-digits. An
Alec Woodard fastbreak lay-up following a steal by
Carlos Paez got the deficit under 10 points for the first time since there was 5:30 to go in the first half, making the score 61-52 with eight minutes remaining before a transition bucket by Paez capped the run for a 61-54 score with 7:30 left in the game.
But that would be the closest SLU would get the rest of the way as Auburn scored the next five points and nine of the next 11 overall to push the lead back out to 14 points on a three-pointer with six minutes left which made the score 70-56. Southeastern got the deficit under 10 points one more time, using a 5-0 run to turn a 72-58 deficit down to a 72-63 deficit with 3:45 left on another McFarlane three-pointer. Auburn responded with another 8-2 run with a bucket and free throw making it 80-65 with 1:45 in the contest, putting the result out of reach as SLU would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
McFarlane's first double-double of the season was the result of scoring a game-high 24 points while his 11 rebounds tied game-high honors. Four of his nine made baskets came from above the arc. Eastmond also continued to be a top scorer as he dropped in 15 points, grabbed four rebounds, had two assists, and a steal.
Nick Caldwell finished the night with 10 points and six rebounds. Rowbury finished the night with nine points and five rebounds, and an assist.
Southeastern finished the game hitting 39.7% of their shots overall and 35.7% from above the arc. Auburn finished the game hitting 41.4% of their shots and 34.4% from three, the difference being the 11 made three-pointers by the Tigers compared to just five makes from above the arc by the Lions. SLU scored more points off turnovers than Auburn, 12-10, had more second chance points, 19-17, while only giving up four more points in the paint, 36-32, and had just one less fastbreak point, 12-11.
The road trip for the Lions continues next Wednesday as they head to Provo, Utah for a date with BYU in the second of five-straight games away from home. Opening tip of Wednesday's game against the Cougars (2-0) is set for 7:00 p.m. MST, 8:00 p.m. CST in the Marriott Center. The game will be live streamed on Big XII Now on ESPN+ with live stats also available through the host institution's website.
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.
