COMMERCE, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team used a 25-9 run late in the second half to overcome a hot shooting East Texas A&M squad and pull away for a 76-68 win in the Battle of the Lions Monday afternoon at The Field House.
The victory extended Southeastern's season-best win streak out to five in a row. It was also the Lions' seventh true road win of the season, moving SLU (11-8, 5-3 SLC) into a tie for the second-most road victories in all of Division I in 2024-25. Southeastern ended the game shooting 41.4 percent from the field but struggled from deep, hitting two-of-11 three-point attempts in the contest. However, the Lions were nearly perfect at the charity stripe, hitting 26 of their 29 free throw attempts, 89.7 percent. SLU controlled the paint, outrebounding ETAMU, 41-32, and outscoring them in the lane, 40-22.
ETAMU (2-17, 0-8 SLC) entered the game shooting less than 30 percent from above the arc this season but found the distance on this day, hitting 12 triples at a 41.4 percent clip. The Lions from Commerce ended the game hitting 41.1 percent from the field overall and struggled at the free throw line, hitting 10 of their 18 attempts from the stripe.
After hitting the game-winning shot Saturday at Northwestern State,
Sam Hines, Jr. led the comeback Monday with 23 points on nine-of-16 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds, had a pair of assists, blocked a shot, and came up with a steal.
Jakevion Buckley also had his role in the comeback, hitting seven of his 13 shot attempts to finish with 19 points while giving out four assists, grabbing four rebounds, and coming up three steals.
Brody Rowbury was a large factor in SLU's dominance inside and at the free throw line. He went three of eight from the field but was 11-of-12 at the charity stripe to finish with 17 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season while blocking two shots and coming up with giving out an assist.
Jeremy Elyzee also had 10 rebounds in the contest to go with five points, two assists, and a blocked shot.
Carlos Paez had both of SLU's made three-pointers in the contest to finish with eight points, four rebounds, and a blocked shot.
It was a cold start on a chilly day as the game's first points didn't come until Elyzee grabbed a rebound and won the race down the court for a lay-up with 17:45 left on the clock. A lay-up by Rowbury and a fadeaway jumper by Hines, Jr. helped Southeastern jump out to a 6-1 lead just more than four minutes into the contest.
But the three-pointers started to fall for ETAMU, accounting for the last six points of a 10-1 run by the homestanding Lions as ETAMU took an 11-7 lead with 14:20 left in the period.
SLU responded with nine of the next 14 points to reclaim the lead as Hines, Jr. grabbed a rebound and raced down the floor for a lay-up and a 16-15 lead with 10:45 left before halftime. ETAMU answered that with a three-pointer, kicking off a 10-3 run as the Commerce Lions took their largest lead of the period at 25-19 with 6:45 left in the half.
The Hammond Lions came back with six-straight points with a pair of free throws by Rowbury tying the score at 25-25 with five minutes to go. ETAMU hit a three-pointer on its ensuing possession, but Buckley's floater in response started SLU's best run of the first half with the Lions scoring eight-straight points to reclaim the lead at 33-28 as Buckley found Hines, Jr. in transition for a dunk with the clock showing 2:20 remaining until halftime. That would be SLU's final points of the period, however, as ETAMU scored the first half's final eight points to take a 36-33 lead into the locker room.
Hines, Jr. found Buckley in transition, who scored while being fouled for an old-fashioned three-point play to kick off the second half scoring and tie the game back up at 36-36.
But the three-pointer was still kind to ETAMU at the start of the second half with back-to-back threes giving the home Lions a 42-36 lead. ETAMU eventually pushed the advantage out to its peak of eight points with just less than 12 minutes left on another three-pointer which made it 49-41 ETAMU.
Southeastern had a quick answer to, not only kick off the comeback, but start the decisive big run. Buckley got to the rim and scored, then pulled up into the paint and hit a floater before Rowbury hit another pair of free throws for a 6-0 SLU run, cutting the deficit down to two at 49-47.
ETAMU reestablished its edge up to four points but then, as ETAMU led 58-55 with 5:30 left in the contest, Hines, Jr. followed his own miss and put it back in while being fouled for a three-point play which tied the score at 58-58. That kicked off the game's biggest run as Paez hit his second three-pointer of the contest which was followed by Buckley stealing the ball and running to the rim for another lay-up while being fouled, giving him three more points, and then a Rowbury lay-up. All told, SLU scored 11-straight points over a span of 2:22 to take a 66-58 lead with three minutes remaining. That was the end of the bigger 25-9 run which turned an eight-point deficit into an eight-point SLU lead.
ETAMU only got as close as five points for the remainder of the contest while Southeastern got the only double-digit lead of the game with seven seconds remaining as Elyzee hit a pair of free throws for a 76-66 score before ETAMU got the game's final points with a tip-in at the buzzer.
After going 4-0 on the four-game road trip, the Lions come back to Hammond, America for the first four-game homestand of the season, which starts on Saturday as Incarnate Word makes the trip from San Antonio. Tip-off of Saturday's contest against the Cardinals (9-9, 2-5 SLC) is set for 3:30 p.m., or about 30 minutes after the end of the women's game, in the University Center.
It will be the
David Kiefer Camp Reunion Game where all of this year's attendees to the
David Kiefer Basketball Camps are invited to attend and be part of the game's festivities.
The 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 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.
