NATCHITOCHES, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team used a pair of late first half runs which combined for an extended 23-6 run to open a double-digit lead and the Lions kept Northwestern State at bay for the remainder of the contest, finishing the season sweep of the Demons and matching the team's longest win streak of the season with a 69-59 victory Saturday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
Southeastern (11-13, 6-5 SLC) took its first lead of the game as a
Nick Caldwell got to the rim for a layup which put the Lions up 3-2 just 2:30 into the contest. Northwestern State (6-18, 4-7 SLC) went on its first push of the contest, scoring the next six points to take its largest lead of the contest at 8-3 with 13:30 left in the first half. SLU scored the next four points as
Brody Rowbury hit a pair of free throws and
Avery Wilson got to the rim and scored to cut the deficit down to 8-7. The Demons had an answer, getting the next three points on a free throw and a layup to reclaim a four-point advantage at 11-7 with 10:15 left.
That's when Southeastern went on its first significant run of the half, scoring the next 13 points, started by another pair of Rowbury free throws and capped by
Kam Burton pulling up from the mid-range for a jumper, giving the Lions a 20-11 lead with five minutes remaining in the half. NSU scored the next four to get cut the Lion lead down to five with 3:50 to go, but a
Roger McFarlane three started the next spurt as SLU scored the next eight points as a
Roscoe Eastmond three put the Southeastern up 28-15 with 1:15 left before halftime. The two teams traded jumpers, but then a buzzer-beating three by the Demons made it a 10-point lead for the Lions at the break, 30-20.
Rowbury got to the rim to score the opening points of the second half, making it 32-20 Lions, but the Demons enjoyed the period's early momentum as NSU followed that with a 10-4 run to cut the SLU edge down to six points at 36-30 with just less than 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
But Southeastern would allow the Demons to get no closer as McFarlane split a pair of free throws to kick off a 16-4 run which ended as Eastmond hit another three to put SLU up 52-34 with 9:15 left in the game. NSU rattled off the next eight points, its best run of the game, to get the Lions lead down to just 10 points at 52-42 with 7:15 to go. A bucket by
Dylan Canoville was matched by a pair of free throws by the Demons to make it a 10-point game again at 54-44 with less than six minutes left. But when Caldwell hit a long-range, desperation three as the shot clock buzzer sounded on SLU's ensuing possession, that proved to be the back-breaker for NSU as the Lions eventually pushed the advantage back up to 15 points on a free throw by Caldwell which made it 62-47 Southeastern with 3:10 to go, closing it out from there.
Caldwell led the Lions on the evening, hitting six of his 10 shot attempts, including that one three-pointer, and hit two of his four free throw attempts for 15 points while securing eight rebounds and adding an assist and a block. Eastmond took on a bigger scoring role in Saturday's win, hitting five of his 10 shot attempts, including going two of four from three, and hit both free throws to register 14 points while dishing out seven assists and had three rebounds. McFarlane registered his seventh double-double of the season as he hit four of his 10 shot attempts with two of his makes coming from deep and went one-of-two from the free throw line for 11 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and adding an assist. Canoville had perhaps his best day as a Lion, making all five of his shot attempts for 10 points while grabbing five rebounds, blocking five Demon shots, and had a pair of assists.
For the fourth game in a row, Southeastern hit more than 50% of its shot attempts, connecting on 26 of its 48 shot attempts to finish hitting at a 54.2% clip. SLU hit seven-of-20 from deep for 35% from three. The Demons finished at 34.9% shooting in the contest and just 18.5% from three.
The Lions return to action on Monday night, attempting to earn a split of the season series with Texas A&M-Commerce. Tip off of the contest against the A&M-Commerce Lions (9-15, 3-8 SLC) is set for 7 p.m. in The Field House in Commerce, Texas. The game will be live streamed on ESPN+ while a radio broadcast will be available, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area or worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, and on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats for both contests will also be available on 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.
