NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team got a career night from
Brody Rowbury, who scored a career high 19 points, with
Roger McFarlane's second-straight double-double helping push the Lions to a 73-68 win over New Orleans in the Southland Conference opener for both teams Saturday evening at the Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena.
Southeastern (6-8, 1-0 SLC) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead as Rowbury made his presence felt early, scoring all four of those points on a pair of free throws and a layup. That would be SLU's largest lead of the first 20 minutes as UNO (5-9, 0-1 SLC) answered back to tie the score and kept things close throughout the opening minutes. The Lions would reclaim a four-point lead as another Rowbury layup made it 15-11 SLU with 13:45 left in the period. The Privateers scored the next five to take their first lead of the contest at 16-15 before
Kam Burton hit a three to end the UNO run and put Southeastern back in front.
With SLU leading 20-18 after another Rowbury layup, UNO answered with seven-straight points to take their largest lead of the period at 25-20 with eight minutes left in the half. McFarlane scored the game's next five points to tie things back up, hitting a pair of free throws and then scoring while getting fouled for an old-fashioned three-point play to bring the score back even at 25-25 with 6:57 left in the period. The Privateers pushed back in front for the next few minutes until a McFarlane layup tied the score again at 32-32 with four minutes left. UNO got another bucket to get back in front before an
Avery Wilson layup tied things back up and a layup by
Jason Malbrue put SLU back in front at 36-34. The Privateers scored the last bucket of the half to get things back where they started, all even, as the two teams went to the halftime locker room tied at 36-36.
Roscoe Eastmond got the scoring started in the second half, putting the Lions up 38-36, but much like the first half, neither side could break free from the other. With the Privateers leading 43-42 following a three-pointer, Burton answered with another which started a 16-7 Southeastern run which finally gave the Lions a little bit of breathing room as a layup by
Alec Woodard gave SLU the largest lead of the contest for either side at eight points, 58-50, with 10 minutes left. From there, Southeastern tried to answer each push UNO made, but the Privateers were able to get the score back even as a 6-0 run erased a 67-61 lead and tied the game back up at 67-67, setting up a furious final two minutes.
On Southeastern's ensuing possession, Rowbury collected a Lion miss and was fouled on the putback attempt as his two free throws put SLU back in front to stay. The Privateers split a pair of free throws on their next possession to make it a one-point game at 69-68 with less than 90 seconds left.
Nick Caldwell was having a fairly silent night until the next SLU possession where he hit the biggest basket of the night, faking a defender out of the picture and put up a floater in the lane which fell through to put the Lions up 71-68 with a minute left. SLU's defense stood tall as the ball was popped free and fell into Rowbury's hands for a turnover and Eastmond rewarded the big man on the other end for the game's final points as Rowbury scored another layup less than 20 seconds left. A missed Privateer three-pointer was enough to run out the rest of the clock and preserve the win.
Rowbury was nearly unstoppable near the rim. He hit his first six field goal attempts on his way to finishing seven-of-nine from the field and five-of-five from the free throw line for a career high 19 points. He also grabbed six rebounds, secured two steals, and had an assist in the win.
McFarlane secured his third double-double of the season, and second in a row, by finishing the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He hit five of his 14 shot attempts, including two of his four attempts from long range. He scored on four of his seven free throw attempts, collected two steals, and had two assists.
Eastmond had himself a night as well, hitting all five of his shot attempts, two of those coming from above the arc, for 12 points. He also dished out five assists, gathered up two steals, and grabbed a board.
Woodard filled up the stat sheet with seven points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Caldwell finished the game with six points and five rebounds. Burton added six points as well.
The Lions, winners of four-straight, look to keep the win streak alive on Monday in the second of a three-game road trip to open Southland Conference play, heading down to Thibodaux for a date with Nicholls. Tip-off of Monday's game against the Colonels (6-8, 1-0 SLC) is set to tip off at 6:30 p.m. at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium. The game 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 through the host institution.
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.
