HOUSTON, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team got a season best scoring night from
Nick Caldwell as both he and
Roger McFarlane both hit the 20-point mark while both
Brody Rowbury, who grabbed a career-best number of rebounds, and
Roscoe Eastmond both notched double-doubles in a dominant 80-58 win over the Houston Christian Huskies Monday night at Sharp Gymnasium.
Southeastern (8-13, 3-5 SLC) looked to establish a presence in the paint early as either Cardwell or Rowbury scored all of the Lions' first eight points in the contest. However, SLU found itself trailing 14-9 with 13 minutes left in the period after Houston Christian (5-14, 3-5 SLC) hit a three-pointer to cap a 9-3 Huskies run.
Trailing 17-13 with 10:30 left in the half, the Lions started to take control of the contest as
Avery Wilson worked his way into the paint and scored, kicking off a 12-0 SLU run which ended as Caldwell got to the rim for a layup to make it 25-17 Southeastern with 6:40 left in the first half, a lead the Lions would not surrender for the remainder of the contest. SLU's lead hit double figures for the first time with just less than 5:30 to go before halftime as
Brody Rowbury scored while being fouled and hit the ensuing free throw to put the Lions up 30-20, ending a 17-3 SLU run. HCU cut that lead down to five points twice in the closing moments of the half, but Eastmond's buzzer-beating three gave Southeastern an eight-point edge, 37-29, at the break.
While HCU opened the scoring in the second half, the Lions scored the next four to get the lead back in double figures as
Nick Caldwell hit a shot from the elbow to give SLU a 41-31 lead just 90 seconds into the final 20 minutes. The Huskies tried to keep contact with the Lions over the next few minutes, but with Southeastern leading 49-39 with 13:10 left, Eastmond got into the paint and scored to send SLU on the run that finally blew the game wide open, starting a 15-4 Lions run which pushed the lead over 20 points for the first time as Caldwell drained a three-pointer to put Southeastern up 64-43 with just less than nine minutes remaining in the contest.
The Huskies followed that with a 7-1 run in a frantic attempt to get back into the contest, cutting the Southeastern lead down to 65-50 with 5:30 to go, but that would be as close as HCU would get the rest of the way as SLU immediately went on an 13-3 push, started by a pair of Caldwell free throws and capped by a McFarlane steal and layup, giving the Lions their largest lead of the contest at 25 points, 78-53, with just less than two minutes to go and Southeastern would see things out from there.
Caldwell hit 10 of his 14 shot attempts in the contest, including all four three-pointers, and made both of his free throws to finish the game with a season-high 26 points, just two points shy of his career high. He also grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot.
McFarlane hit eight of his 13 shots, including two of his four attempts from three, and was good on both of his free throw attempts to finish with 20 points. He also secured seven rebounds, two steals, and had an assist.
Eastmond was five-of-10 from the field, including one-of-two from deep, and made both of his free throw attempts for 13 points while dishing out 12 assists for his second double-double of the season. He also had four steals and a pair of rebounds in the win.
Rowbury picked up his second straight double-double, and second of the season, as he hit five of his nine shot attempts and was two-for-three from the charity stripe to finish the game with 12 points while grabbing a career high 13 rebounds. He also blocked a shot during the contest.
Southeastern was on target for most of the contest, but especially in the second half, hitting 66.7% of its shot attempts during the last 20 minutes to finish the game at 54.2% shooting overall. The Lions also hit 43.8% of their three-point attempts on the evening. The SLU defense held HCU to 39.2% shooting in the contest and just 25% from three on the evening. Southeastern also did a better job of making HCU pay for mistakes as 15 Husky turnovers resulted in 19 Lions points while 11 SLU turnovers turned into just nine HCU points.
The Lions now return home for a pair of contests, starting on Saturday afternoon as McNeese comes to Hammond, America to wrap up the season series. Tip-off of Saturday's contest against the Cowboys (19-2, 8-0 SLC) is set for 3:30 p.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center and it will be the Pink Out Game, honoring those who battled or are battling breast cancer. We encourage fans to wear pink and will honor breast cancer survivors at halftime. If you can't make it to the Pride Roofing University Center, the game will be live streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion, worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, or on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience, the TuneIn Radio, or MyTuner Radio apps.
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.
