HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team saw its six-game win streak fall under a three-point attack as the Houston Christian Huskies outlasted the Lions 70-62 Monday night at the University Center.
Southeastern (12-9, 6-4 SLC) ended the game hitting 45.3 percent after connecting on 51.9 percent in the second half, but the Lions were just three-of-16 on three-point attempts in the contest. SLU also had a rare off night at the free throw line, hitting 11 of 19 from the charity stripe, 57.9 percent.
HCU (10-11, 7-3 SLC) was dialed in from the start, especially from three. The Huskies ended the game hitting 11 of their 22 attempts from above the arc, 50 percent, while hitting 45.2 percent of all of their shot attempts in the contest. HCU coupled that by getting to the free throw line more than SLU, earning 28 attempts, and hitting them, making 21, at a 75 percent clip.
The Huskies were propelled by Bryson Dawkins and Julian Mackey, who both scored 27 points in the contest. They accounted for 14 of HCU's 19 made field goals, 10 of HCU's 11 made three-pointers, and 16 of HCU's 21 made free throws.
Southeastern was led by
Sam Hines, Jr., who had his third-straight game with at least 20 points as he finished with 23 in the contest, pushing him past the 1,000 career points scored milestone. He went 10-of-18 from the field and three-of-four at the free throw line while grabbing six rebounds, coming up with three steals, and dishing out two assists.
Brody Rowbury hit four of his five shot attempts, including his lone three-point attempt, and was five-of-eight at the free throw line to finish with 14 points. He grabbed seven rebounds and dished out an assist in the contest.
The Lions enjoyed the early advantage as Rowbury launched his three-pointer from the right corner, which he made to give Southeastern an 11-7 lead with 15:30 left in the first half. That would be SLU's largest lead of the contest as HCU went on a 12-0 run, all three-pointers hit by Dawkins, to go up 19-11 with 9:45 left in the half and the Huskies would not trail again.
Southeastern slowly pulled that deficit back, getting back to within a single point at 27-26 as Rowbury followed his own miss and put it back in with 20 seconds left in the half. But HCU took the momentum into the break as a buzzer-beating jumper in the paint went in, giving the Huskies a 29-26 lead as the two teams went to the locker room.
Hines, Jr. opened the scoring in the second half to make it a one-point game again, but again the three-pointer proved to be an issue. On HCU's ensuing possession, the Huskies were fouled on a three-point attempt, making all three to reestablish a four-point lead. Hines, Jr. scored again on SLU's next possession, only to see the Huskies hit another triple to push the lead back out to five.
After HCU got out to a seven-point advantage, 38-31, Hines, Jr. hit a pair of free throws and then
Carlos Paez got to the rim for a lay-up, cutting the deficit down to three at 38-35 with 15:45 left. But once again, it was the threat of the three-point shot that caused another foul on a three-point attempt, giving the Huskies three more free throws, which they converted to double their advantage.
Those free throws started an 8-2 HCU push as the Huskies took their largest lead of the contest with 12:40 remaining at 46-37 after splitting a pair of free throws. SLU scored the next three points, only to see another HCU three-point attempt go in, making it 49-40 with 11:15 left.
SLU had one last big push to get back in front, scoring the next eight points off a Rowbury basket-and-one, transition lay-up by
Jakevion Buckley following a steal, and a three-pointer by Paez which made it 49-48 HCU with 9:20 left in the contest.
But it was not to be as each opportunity to retake the lead went by the wayside and HCU started to regain an advantage. The Huskies got the lead back up to its largest at nine points with less than 30 second left after splitting a pair of free throws to make it 67-58, and closed it out from there.
The Lions to get back in the win column on Saturday as Southeastern welcomes in New Orleans with SLU looking to complete the season sweep. Tip-off of Saturday's contest against the Privateers (4-17, 2-8 SLC) is set for 3:30 p.m. in the University Center.
It'll also be the annual Pink Out Game for Breast Cancer Awareness. All fans coming to the University Center are encouraged to wear pink to show awareness of the disease and support for those who have fought and are fighting the disease.
Saturday's game 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 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.
