NEW ORLEANS, La. The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team controlled most of the action, but a three-point barrage by Tulane made it tight late as the Lions held on for a 71-67 win over the Green Wave Monday night at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.
 
Southeastern (4-4, 0-0 SLC) picked up its first win over Tulane (4-5, 0-0 AAC) in six years, having lost the last two match-ups between the two, while taking just its fourth win ever over the Green Wave in 16 all-time meetings.
 
"I was proud of our guy's composure late in the game," said SLU head men's basketball coach David Kiefer. "Credit to Tulane as they made a lot of threes and tough shots, but our guys were poised and made winning plays down the stretch."
 
SLU was led by Jakevion Buckley, who finished with 18 points on the night. He went seven-of-15 from the field and made just his second three-pointer of the season in the contest. He also filled up his stat line with a game-high six assists, four rebounds, and four steals.
 
Sam Hines, Jr. continued to do it all for the Lions, scoring 14 points on six-of-14 shooting. He grabbed nine rebounds, dished out three assists, and had a block.
 
Kam Burton was once again a spark off the bench, hitting four three-pointers and five shots overall on his way to 14 points with three boards.
 
Jeremy Elyzee may not have scored until the second half, but he still filled it up with eight points, hitting both of his three-point attempts, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked two shots, and had two steals, including the one with 5.9 seconds left that helped the Lions close out the victory.
 
Carlos Paez made three of the game's biggest shots, a three-pointer with a minute left which gave Southeastern a four-point lead and then a pair of free throws with 4.4 seconds left which sealed the win. He finished with seven points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.
 
Southeastern finished the contest hitting 43.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. SLU ended the game with 13 second chance points, 30 points in the paint, 22 points off Tulane miscues, and nine points in transition. The Lions also got a lot more help from the reserves than the Green Wave, 22-5 in points off the bench.
 
Tulane hit three less shots in the game that the Lions, 27 to 24, but made up for it by hitting 13 three-point shots compared to eight for SLU. The Green Wave finished at 42.1 percent shooting overall and 39.4 percent from deep. Tulane was held to 18 points in the paint, 16 points off Southeastern turnovers, seven second chance points, and seven transition points.
 
The opening minutes of the contest were evenly contested with four lead changes and a tie. After Tulane opened the scoring with a three, back-to-back lay-ups by Paez and Buckley gave Southeastern its first lead of the game at 4-3. A Green Wave three-pointer with 13:40 remaining gave the Green Wave their final lead for a while.
 
A couple possessions later, Hines, Jr. was fouled and made a couple of free throws, putting the Lions up 10-9. Two possessions later, Burton hit his first three-pointer of the night to put SLU up 13-9 with 12:15 left in the period.
 
Southeastern maintained a small edge throughout the remainder of the half. Leading 24-22 with 3:30 to go before halftime, a fadeaway jumper by Hines, Jr. in the paint started a 7-0 Lion run. Buckley stole the ball and raced down the court for a lay-up and a 31-22 lead with 1:30 left, giving SLU what would be its largest lead of the contest. The Lions took a 31-25 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
Elyzee opened the second half scoring with a three, reestablishing the nine-point lead for the Lions at 34-25. Over the next nine minutes, the Green Wave would make several runs which cut the lead down to one possession, only to see Southeastern go on a run of its own to push the advantage back out to near double-digits. SLU's final nine-point lead of the game came with 12:45 left as Buckley got to the rim for a lay-up and a 48-39 Lion lead.
 
Tulane scored the next nine points to tie the score up for the first time since the game's opening minutes at 48-48 with 10:30 to go. Hines, Jr. put Southeastern back in front with another fallaway jumper in the lane, but the Green Wave responded with a three-pointer on its next possession to reclaim the lead for the first time since 9-8 at 51-50 with 9:45 left in the contest.
 
Over the next eight minutes, there would be nine lead changes and two ties. With just less than two minutes left, Paez tracked down his own miss and the ball found its way to Hines, Jr., who pulled up to the free throw line and sank a jumper for the game's final lead change, putting the Lions in front to stay at 66-65. After Tulane missed a three-pointer, Paez hit the three which put SLU up two possessions with a minute left. The Green Wave hit a pair of free throws to get back within two and, following a Southeastern miss, had a chance to tie or take the lead with the shot clock off.
 
Tulane, however, would not get a shot off as a pass trickled to an area another Green Wave player had vacated and Elyzee tracked down the loose ball for a steal with 5.9 seconds left. 1.5 seconds and three fouls later, Paez hit the crucial pair of bonus free throws to close out the win and Tulane's three-point shot at the buzzer missed wide of the rim.
 
Southeastern looks to keep the winning ways going on Thursday night as Southland Conference play begins in Thibodaux against Nicholls. Tip-off of Thursday's SLC opener against the Colonels (4-4, 0-0 SLC) is set for 6:30 p.m. in David R. Stopher Gymnasium.
 
The game against Nicholls will be televised on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast also 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.
 
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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. Read Full Article