HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team saw an opponent hit double-digit three-pointers for the second game in a row, dooming the Lions to their fourth-straight defeat in a 68-52 loss to the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions Saturday afternoon at the Pride Roofing University Center.
Southeastern (6-12, 1-4 SLC) held an early advantage as a three by
Roger McFarlane gave the Lions a 3-2 lead with just more than a minute gone into the contest. SLU's only other lead in the contest came as back-to-back threes by McFarlane and
Kam Burton turned a five-point deficit into a one-point advantage at 12-11 with just less than 13 minutes to go in the period. A McFarlane jumper in the paint made it a two-point game at 18-16 Texas A&M-Commerce (7-10, 1-3 SLC) with 8:20 left, but that's where the Commerce Lions started to open the score up, going on a 16-2 run to take a 14-point lead before a layup by McFarlane closed the scoring in the first half to make it 34-22 at the break.
SLU got the start it wanted out of the break as layups by
Brody Rowbury and
Alec Woodard extended the run from the end of the first half out to 6-0 to cut the deficit down to 34-26 just 30 seconds into the second half. However, A&M-Commerce got down the floor quickly and hit a three-pointer to get its advantage back up to 11 points, thus beginning a trend over the next few minutes of Southeastern cutting the deficit under 10 points only to see Commerce hit a three to push it back into double figures. SLU pushed the deficit under 10 points for the final time just less than 12 minutes left in the contest as a layup by McFarlane made it 47-38 Commerce.
Commerce again answered with another three to push the lead to 12 points, starting a 13-6 A&M-Commerce run to give the blue and yellow Lions their largest lead of the game at 16 points, 60-44, with six minutes left. Southeastern scored the next four points as a McFarlane fastbreak layup and a pair of free throws by
Roscoe Eastmond cut the deficit down to 12 points, but the Lions would get no closer as Commerce pushed the lead back up to 16 points three more times in the contest, including the game's last two points for the final score.
McFarlane led all scorers as he hit seven of his 14 field goal attempts, including two of six from deep, and three of four from the free throw line to finish with 19 points. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and had two assists. Caldwell was the only other Lion in double figures with 12 points as he hit five of his six shot attempts, grabbed five rebounds, dished out two assists, blocked two shots, and had a pair of steals as well.
Southeastern finished the game hitting 41.3% of their shots in the contest, that's after hitting 47.8% in the second half. SLU hit three of its 15 three-point attempts with all of the makes coming in the first half. Texas A&M-Commerce hit 45.6% of its shots from the field, making 12 from long range and hitting at a 35.3% clip from deep. It's the second-straight contest where an opponent has hit double-digit threes against SLU after Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hit 11 three-pointers against the Lions on Monday.
The Lions' next chance to end the losing streak comes on Monday as the three-game homestand comes to a close with a date against Northwestern State. Tip-off of Monday's contest against the Demons (5-13, 3-2 SLC) is set for 6 p.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center. Monday's contest will be live streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, or on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available 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.
