HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team used an 8-0 run inside the final four minutes to open up an edge from a tie score, and then
Carlos Paez hit a three-pointer to end a frantic comeback attempt by Lamar as the Lions knocked off the Cardinals 81-79 Monday night in the University Center.
The result moved both Southeastern (14-9, 8-4 SLC) and Lamar (13-10, 8-4 SLC) into a four-way tie for second place in the Southland Conference standings with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (15-9, 8-4 SLC) and Nicholls (14-9, 8-4 SLC) at the end of the day's action.
SLU finished the game hitting 44.4 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three-point range on the night while having another consistent night from the free throw line, hitting 75 percent from the stripe. The Lions dominated the boards, outrebounding Lamar 44 to 29 overall while grabbed 17 offensive rebounds compared to just nine offensive boards for the Cardinals. That led to Southeastern getting seven more second chance points than Lamar, 19 to 12.
Lamar ended the game hitting 45.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep, though the Cardinals did hit two more three-point field goals than Southeastern, 9-7. The Cardinals also blocked seven SLU shots on the night.
Jakevion Buckley filled up the score sheet against his former team, scoring 19 points on five-of-14 shooting while hitting nine of his 11 free throw attempts. He also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists in the win.
Sam Hines, Jr. continued his consistently solid play, going six-of-14 from the field for 15 points while getting three rebounds, a couple of assists, and a couple of steals.
Jeremy Elyzee hit six of his nine shots, including his only three-point attempt, on his way to 14 points. He also grabbed four rebounds while getting an assist, a block, and a steal.
Jaiden Lawrence hit two three-point shots and was perfect at the free throw line on his way to 10 points to go with four rebounds.
Brody Rowbury could not be moved from the paint by Lamar. He was four-of-eight from the field for nine points, but grabbed a career high 15 rebounds, nine of which were on the offensive glass. He also had a career high in assists, dropping off four dimes.
Carlos Paez, whose late three-pointer helped secure the win, finished with eight points on three-of-four shooting, two-of-three from three. He also had two rebounds and a pair of assists.
While neither team was ever able to open a sizable lead, it was the Lions who enjoyed the edge for the majority of the contest. With the score tied at 7-7, a Rowbury lay-up and Elyzee's three-pointer put the Lions up 12-7 with 15:40 left in the opening period and SLU would not trail for the remainder of the half.
Southeastern's largest first half lead came as
Asher Boney sank a three-pointer with 11:30 left to give the Lions a 19-13 lead. SLU's lead hit six points three more times throughout the rest of the period, the final time coming as Paez got into the paint and found Hines, Jr. cutting to the rim for a dunk with 35 seconds left in the half, which brought the game to its score at the break, 40-34 Lions.
Lamar opened the second half fast, getting a four-point play on the period's opening possession to kick off an 8-2 Cardinals run to tie the game up at 42-42 less than two minutes into the last 20 minutes.
But Elyzee kept the Lions in front of Lamar, scoring while being fouled on SLU's ensuing possession. He hit the free throw to complete the three-point play, putting Southeastern back in front at 45-42.
After the Cardinals answered with a lay-up on their next possession, Hines, Jr. got the ball to Rowbury who scored while being fouled, kicking off a 7-0 Lions run. After Rowbury completed the three-point play, Lawrence hit a pair of free throws, and then Elyzee beat the Cardinals down the court off a Lamar miss for a transition lay-up to wrap up the run, giving Southeastern a 52-44 lead with just less than 16 minutes left in the contest.
Lamar scored the next three to cut it down to five, only to see
Kam Burton hit a three from straightaway with the shot clock buzzer sounding to get the lead back up to eight. Then, after another Cardinal lay-up, Paez hit his first triple of the night to give the Lions their largest lead of the contest at nine points, 58-49, with 13 minutes left in the contest.
But the Cardinals would not let the Lions get away, going on a 14-4 run to reclaim the lead for the first time since 7-5 as a three-pointer gave the Cardinals a 63-62 lead with nine minutes left in the contest. A lay-up by Rowbury on Southeastern's ensuing possession put SLU back in front, and the Lions would not trail again in the contest.
With Southeastern now leading 64-63, a pair of free throws by Lawrence put the Lions up three, only to see the Cardinals hit a triple to tie the score again at 66-66. Buckley then got a hoop and a harm, and converted free throw only to see Lamar get an old-fashioned three-point play of its own to tie the score again at 69-69 with 5:45 left in the contest.
As both teams looked for the go-ahead score for nearly two minutes, the Lions finally broke through with Buckley hitting a pair of free throws with less than four minutes left, giving Southeastern the lead for good while kicking off the decisive 8-0 run. A jumper by Hines, Jr. in the paint was followed by an Elyzee steal and lay-up. Elyzee finished the run with a lay-up after Rowbury found him open underneath on a second chance opportunity, putting SLU up 77-69 with less than two minutes left.
But the Cardinals made one last run, scoring six points in less than a minutes to make it a two-point game, 77-75, with less than a minute left.
Watching the potential comeback, the Lions were forced to inbound the ball from the baseline with 33 seconds left and just six seconds left on the shot clock. Paez inbounded the ball to Rowbury, who handed it back to Paez as he turned into a left-wing three-point attempt, which he sank to push the lead back up to five, 80-75, with less than 30 seconds left in the contest.
That proved to be the decisive moment as the Lions defense forced a turnover which took off enough clock that the Cardinals would not have enough time to get the possessions needed to make another run at a late comeback.
Now having won eight of their last nine to move into a tie for second place in the SLC standings, the Lions head on the road for two-straight, starting on Saturday in San Antonio, looking to wrap up a season sweep of Incarnate Word.
Tip-off of Saturday's contest against the UIW Cardinals (11-12, 4-8 SLC) is set for 3:30 p.m., or about 30 minutes after the end of the women's game, at the Alice P. McDermott Convocation Center.
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 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.
