BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team got 16 points from
Jakevion Buckley and
Jeremy Elyzee had his first double-double as a Lion, but SLU started its 10-game road trip with an 82-72 loss to the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers Sunday afternoon at Bartow Arena.
Southeastern (1-1) hit 45.2 percent from the field overall while connecting on 33.3 percent from above the three-point arc. UAB (2-1) connected on 50 percent of its shot attempts while also hitting 33.3 percent from deep.
Buckley scored his team-high 16 points on six-of 12 shooting which included a made three-pointer. He went three-of-five at the free throw line and had a team-high seven assists with a steal.
Elyzee's first collegiate double-double came as he scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He hit seven of his 13 shot attempts, came up with two steals, and blocked a shot.
Sam Hines, Jr. was the last Lion in double figures with 11 points on four-of-nine shooting, including a three, and connected on two of his three shot attempts at the free throw line. He also secured eight rebounds, dished out four assists, came up with two steals, and blocked a shot.
Kam Burton added nine points. In his return from injury,
Carlos Paez scored eight.
Brody Rowbury, who also made his season debut, scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds.
The game's opening minutes were tightly contested as the teams traded the lead back-and forth. Southeastern's first lead came at 3-2 as Buckley sank a shot from deep to get the Lion on the board.
SLU's largest deficit of the first 20 minutes came midway through the period at 21-16, but the Lions got on a big run, looking to take over the game. Paez hit a jumper, the first two of what would become 14-straight Southeastern points. Hines, Jr. and Paez hit back-to-back threes to put SLU back in front, and then Rowbury, Elyzee, and Buckley all got to the rim to give Southeastern a 30-21 lead with seven minutes to go until halftime. SLU's lead peaked at 10 points as Burton found himself open above the arc and drained the three to give the Lions a 35-25 lead.
However, the game seemed to turn against the Lions at that point as UAB closed the half on a 12-1 run to take a 37-36 lead into the half.
Hines, Jr. matched a Blazer bucket out of the break to keep it a one-point deficit at 39-38, but UAB started to open a gap by going on a 23-7 run to make it 62-45 with 13:15 left in the contest. Southeastern worked on chipping away, cutting it down to 13 as another bucket by Hines, Jr. made it 62-49 with just less than 11 minutes to go.
UAB went on another kick, scoring seven of the next eight point to take its largest lead of the contest at 69-50 with 7:30 remaining. The two teams traded buckets to make it 71-52 with 6:30 left.
Southeastern made one last push to make its mark in the game as Rowbury put back a miss which started a 12-2 SLU run to get the deficit under double digits with time to work. Buckley found
Thomas Tut open at the rim for a bucket, making it 73-64 Blazers with 4:10 left.
But UAB scored seven of the next nine points to get the lead back up to 14 with just more a minute left and SLU would close it down to 10 points twice in the closing moments, the last as Hines, Jr. hit a pair of free throws to account for the game's final two points.
It'll be a quick 'onto the next' for the Lions as Southeastern makes a stop in Starkville, Miss. on the way back from Birmingham for a game against Mississippi State. Tip-off of Tuesday night's contest against the Bulldogs (2-0) is set for 6:30 p.m. inside Humphrey Coliseum. The game will be televised on SEC Network+ while a radio broadcast will also be available, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, or you can listen to the game 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.
