NATCHITOCHES, La. – Sam Hines, Jr.'s floater in the line with 8.5 seconds left proved to be the decisive points as the Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team held on the defensive side on the final possession for a 65-64 win over the Northwestern State Demons Saturday evening at Prather Coliseum.
The win was the fourth-straight for the Lions (10-8, 4-3 SLC), who moved to 3-0 on the current four-game road trip. The Demons (7-10, 4-3 SLC) picked up their third loss out of their last four games after starting 3-0 in Southland Conference play.
Jakevion Buckley led Southeastern with 19 points and eight rebounds. He hit seven of his 17 shot attempts and was five-of-six at the free throw line. He also had an assist and a steal.
Hines, Jr.'s game winner was his 15
th point of the night as he went six-of-11 from the field and three-of-five from the stripe. He also secured six rebounds, blocked two shots, came up with a pair of steals, and dished out an assist.
Kam Burton hit three three-pointers for nine points while getting a rebound.
Brody Rowbury filled up the stat sheet with seven points on three-of-six shooting, six rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Southeastern shot 45.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point range while going 10-of-13 from the free throw line. Northwestern State ended the game at 44.4 percent shooting overall and just 21.1 percent from three-point range while connecting on 12 of their 14 free throw attempts.
Hines, Jr. and
Jaiden Lawrence opened the scoring as both got into the paint to get buckets, giving SLU an early 4-0 lead. But it was a tight start with five ties and four lead changes over the game's first 13 minutes.
With the scored tied at 17-17 and seven minutes remaining, Buckley got his hands to a missed shot and tapped the ball back up and in, giving the Lions the lead for the remainder of the first half. That bucket was the start of a 15-3 run which gave Southeastern its largest lead of the contest as Buckley's fastbreak bucket with 1:50 left before halftime gave the Lions a 32-20 lead. A pair of NSU free throws with just seconds left in the period made it 32-22 SLU at the break.
Hines, Jr. opened the second half going one-of-two at the stripe and over the first 3:30 of the period, the Lions matched each Demon score with one of their own to maintain the lead as an
Ahmed Essahaty floater in the lane with 16:30 left in the contest made it 39-28 SLU.
But Southeastern went cold while Northwestern State found the range as the Demons scored the next 14 points to reclaim the lead at 42-39 before a Burton three slowed the run and tied the score at 42-42 with 12:20 left. But NSU was not deterred, extending the run out to 23-5 as the Demons took their largest lead of the contest at 51-44 with 8:45 left.
Over the next few minutes, as Southeastern tried to cut into the deficit, Northwestern State seemed to have an answer each time. That is until, with 4:22 left and the Demons leading 57-51,
Carlos Paez hit a three-pointer while being fouled. Paez converted the four-point play and the Lions were back within two points at 57-55.
The Demons did just enough to maintain the lead as the clock ticked under one minute remaining. With NSU leading 62-61, Rowbury grabbed a rebound and got the Lions out in transition. Buckley found Lawrence in the corner with the ball and Lawrence pump faked a defender by him, took a dribble to step up, and sank the baseline left jumper, giving SLU a 63-62 lead with 38.2 second left.
After the Demons drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws with 32.7 left to reclaim the lead at 64-63, the Lions set up their final play. Buckley got the ball to Hines, Jr. at the top of the key and Hines, Jr. got to the right wing. As the defense recovered, Hines, Jr. found a hole he could step into and used that clearance to get a floater up as he stepped into the lane, banking the ball high off the glass and into the basket to give SLU the 65-64 lead with 8.5 seconds left.
NSU then used a timeout, and with its final possession, a Demon guard took the inbounds and raced right to the paint, throwing a wild lay-up attempt high off the glass which bounded away. The rebound bounced around before a Demon grabbed it, but before he could get the second chance shot up, the buzzer sounded as the clock expired, securing the Lion win.
The Lions will look to extend their season-best win streak out to five-straight on Monday in the Battle of the Lions as Southeastern heads to Commerce, Texas for a date with East Texas A&M. Tip-off of Monday's contest against ETAMU (2-16, 0-7 SLC) is set for 1 p.m. in The Field House.
Monday's game will be televised 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 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 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.
