Defense helps Southeastern overcome second-half deficit, knock Nicholls out of first in Southland

   THIBODAUX, La. – Southeastern Louisiana rallied from deficits of nine and 10 points in taking a 67-63 Southland Conference win at Nicholls Saturday evening in the Stopher Gym.

The Lions trailed 48-38 with 13:33 left but used a 19-3 run over the next 8:41 to take their biggest lead at 57-51 with 4:52 remaining. Nicholls’ Kevin Johnson missed two of three free throws that would have tied the game at 65 with 4 seconds left.

Southeastern (13-9, 7-2 Southland) moved into a second-place tie with Nicholls (13-9, 7-2 Southland), a half-game behind New Orleans (11-10, 8-2 Southland) in the league.

Junior forward Moses Greenwood had his second-straight 20-point effort for the Lions. Junior guard Marlain Veal added 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Senior guard Eddy Polanco led the team with six rebounds while contributing 11 points and four assists. Southeastern shot 49.0 percent overall, including 50 percent in the second half.

The Lions held Nicholls, which came in with a Southland-best 85.9 points per game, to its season low in scoring. Roddy Peters tossed in a game-high 22 points while Tevon Saddler had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kimani Jackson added 11 points. The Colonels shot 46.9 percent but were just 1-of-10 on 3-pointers.

Veal found Greenwood inside to give Southeastern the lead for good at 59-57 with 3:14 left. A Veal layup and two Polanco free throws made it 63-58 at the 1:38 mark. After a Greenwood dunk gave the Lions a 65-61 lead with 56 seconds left, Peters made two free throws to make it 65-62 with 49 seconds remaining. Johnson was then fouled on a 3 from the left wing with 4 seconds left. He made the first shot but missed the next two. Veal grabbed the rebound and was fouled, icing the win with two free throws with 2.5 seconds left.

Southeastern rallied from the 48-38 deficit to take the lead on two Polanco free throws with 7:02 left. Senior guard Quinton Thomas followed with a 3 from the right side and Veal hit two free throws to make it 57-51. Peters tied it for the sixth time at 57 with two free throws with 3:30 remaining.

Southeastern countered a 9-0 run by Nicholls to start the game with spurts of 12-2 and 10-4 to pull into a 31-all tie at the half. The Lions took their biggest lead at 38-35 as senior guard Jabbar Singleton found Greenwood inside. The Colonels responded with a 13-0 run to grab a 48-38 advantage on a layup by Jackson at the 13:33 mark.

Southeastern came back with a 10-3 run over the next 5:05. Polanco hit a 3 from the right wing and Veal went coast to coast with a steal to cut the deficit to 51-48 with 9:38 remaining. A layup by Greenwood brought the Lions to within 51-50 with 7:47 left.

Nicholls jumped out to a 9-0 lead on a Jackson layup at the 16:58 mark of the first half. Southeastern came back with a 12-2 run to take a 12-11 lead on a 3-pointer by Polanco from the left wing with 12:33 remaining.

A 3 by Lafayette Rutledge put the Colonels back ahead 19-14 with 9:33 remaining. Greenwood got the Lions within two with a pair of free throws before Ryghe Lyons hit two to give Nicholls a 27-21 lead at the 5:11 mark. But Southeastern closed the half on a 10-4 run with a jumper by senior forward James Currington from the right side tying the game at 31 with 51 seconds left.

NOTES

The victory was Jay Ladner’s 50^th win as head coach at Southeastern.

   Southeastern won at Nicholls for the first time since 2015. The Lions now lead the series 53-45. The teams will meet again in Hammond in the regular season finale on March 3.

UP NEXT

Southeastern opens the second half of conference play by hosting Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the University Center for the Lions’ 10^th annual Jam the Jungle. Jambalaya and promotional items will be served to the first 300 students in attendance.

BOX SCORE

Southeastern La. 67, Nicholls 63

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (13-9, 7-2 SLC)

Greenwood, Moses 9-14 2-2 20; Veal, Marlain 4-8 6-6 15; Polanco, Eddy 2-7 5-7 11; Currington, James 4-7 1-2 9; Thomas, Quinton 2-3 0-0 6; Capps, Jordan 2-6 0-2 4; Filmore, Joshua 1-2 0-0 2; Charleston, Keith 0-0 0-0 0; Singleton, Jabbar 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 14-19 67.

NICHOLLS (13-9, 7-2 SLC)

Peters, Roddy 7-12 8-12 22; Jackson, Kimani 4-8 3-3 11; Saddler, Tevon 4-7 2-4 10; Johnson, Kevin 4-9 1-3 9; Lyons, Ryghe 2-5 2-2 6; Rutledge, Lafayette 1-4 0-0 3; Robertin, Legend 1-1 0-0 2; Powell, Jahvaughn 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 16-24 63.

Southeastern Louisiana……..   31   36  –   67

Nicholls………………….   31   32  –   63

3-point goals–Southeastern Louisiana 5-14 (Thomas, Quinton 2-2; Polanco, Eddy 2-4; Veal, Marlain 1-3; Filmore, Joshua 0-1; Singleton, Jabbar 0-2; Capps, Jordan 0-1; Greenwood, Moses 0-1), Nicholls 1-10 (Rutledge, Lafayette 1-4; Saddler, Tevon 0-1; Johnson, Kevin 0-2; Powell, Jahvaughn 0-3). Fouled out–Southeastern Louisiana-Singleton, Jabbar, Nicholls-None. Rebounds–Southeastern Louisiana 27 (Polanco, Eddy 6), Nicholls 31 (Saddler, Tevon 10). Assists–Southeastern Louisiana 16 (Veal, Marlain 5), Nicholls 7 (Johnson, Kevin 2; Lyons, Ryghe 2). Total fouls–Southeastern Louisiana 20, Nicholls 22. Technical fouls–Southeastern Louisiana-None, Nicholls-TEAM. A-1131