Lions tie school SLC record with win at NSU

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Southeastern Louisiana never trailed in tying a school record with its 13th Southland Conference win of the season, 86-62, at Northwestern State in Prather Coliseum Saturday night.

The Lions (19-10, 13-3 Southland) moved into sole possession of second place in the Southland after tying the program record of 13 league wins, set by the conference champion 2004-05 team. Southeastern remained a game back of Nicholls (20-9, 14-2 Southland) while clinching a first-round bye in next month’s Southland Tournament with the Colonels’ 78-64 victory over New Orleans.

The Lions also set program records with their seventh Southland road win and ninth road victory overall of 2017-18.

Senior forward Jordan Capps had a game-high 21 points for Southeastern. Freshman forward Brandon Gonzalez went 6-for-6 from the field in scoring a career-high 15 points. Junior guard Marlain Veal had nine points, seven assists and five rebounds. Senior guard Joshua Filmore added nine points and five assists while senior guard Eddy Polanco had eight points and five boards. The Lions shot a season-best 62.7 percent (32-of-51) while recording 21 assists to just nine turnovers.

Northwestern State (4-23, 1-15 Southland) received 10 points and five rebounds from Larry Owens. Ishmael Lane and Iziahiah Sweeney contributed nine points each. The Demons shot 45.5 percent but committed 20 turnovers.

Southeastern shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) and committed just two turnovers in jumping out to a 47-28 halftime lead.

Veal scored off a Filmore steal and junior forward Keith Charleston took another one in to give Southeastern a 10-5 lead with 16:09 remaining in the first half.

After a 3 by Lane, the Lions went on a 9-0 run over the next 3:03 to take a 19-8 lead on a Capps layup with 12:45 left. Polanco came in to score off a Filmore steal before hitting a jumper to extend the lead to 28-10 at the 9:26 mark.

Northwestern State came back with a 12-1 run to pull to within 29-22 on a Lane jumper with 6:08 remaining. But senior guard Jabbar Singleton knocked down a 3 from the right wing and Veal found Capps inside as Southeastern regained a 36-24 lead with 4:16 left.

A three-point play by Gonzalez and a 3 at the buzzer by Filmore gave the Lions the 19-point advantage at the break.

Southeastern continued to pull away in the second half, taking its biggest lead at 73-44 on a Polanco layup with 8:25 remaining. Northwestern State never got closer than 17 in the final 20 minutes.

NOTES
Southeastern won back to back games at Northwestern State for the first time since taking four straight from 2008-11. The Lions trimmed the Demons’ lead in the series to 85-51 with their third-straight win overall.

Southeastern is now 28-1 when scoring at least 80 points under in Jay Ladner’s three-plus seasons as head coach.

With Gonzalez’s 15 points, every active Lion has had a double-digit scoring game this season.

UP NEXT
Southeastern closes out its regular season road slate Wednesday at New Orleans at 7 p.m. in the Lakefront Arena.

BOX SCORE
Southeastern La. 86, Northwestern St. 62
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (19-10, 13-3)
Capps, Jordan 9-13 3-6 21; Gonzalez, Brandon 6-6 1-1 15; Veal, Marlain 4-6 0-0 9; Filmore, Joshua 3-6 0-0 9; Polanco, Eddy 3-6 2-3 8; Thomas, Quinton 3-3 1-2 8; Charleston, Keith 2-3 3-5 8; Singleton, Jabbar 2-5 0-2 6; West, D’Angelo 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 32-51 12-21 86.
NORTHWESTERN STATE (4-23, 1-15)
Owens, Larry 4-4 2-3 10; Lane, Ishmael 3-7 3-7 9; Sweeney, Iziahiah 4-8 0-0 9; Metoyer, Malik 3-3 0-0 7; Dixon, Darian 2-2 2-2 6; Starks, Caleb 2-3 0-0 5; Jones, C.J. 2-6 0-0 4; Love, DeAndre 2-6 0-0 4; Guest, Jacob 1-5 0-0 3; Perry, Czar 1-6 0-2 2; Hutton, Brandon 1-3 0-0 2; Ott, Vontay 0-1 1-2 1; Lazare, Cameron 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 8-16 62.
Southeastern Louisiana…….. 47 39 – 86
Northwestern State………… 28 34 – 62
3-point goals–Southeastern Louisiana 10-18 (Filmore, Joshua 3-5; Singleton, Jabbar 2-4; Gonzalez, Brandon 2-2; Charleston, Keith 1-1; Veal, Marlain 1-1; Thomas, Quinton 1-1; West, D’Angelo 0-2; Polanco, Eddy 0-1; Capps, Jordan 0-1), Northwestern State 4-14 (Starks, Caleb 1-1; Guest, Jacob 1-3; Sweeney, Iziahiah 1-4; Metoyer, Malik 1-1; Perry, Czar 0-2; Lazare, Cameron 0-1; Jones, C.J. 0-1; Lane, Ishmael 0-1). Fouled out—Southeastern Louisiana-Charleston, Keith; Gonzalez, Brandon; Capps, Jordan, Northwestern State-None. Rebounds–Southeastern Louisiana 27 (Polanco, Eddy 5; Veal, Marlain 5), Northwestern State 34 (Owens, Larry 5). Assists—Southeastern Louisiana 21 (Veal, Marlain 7), Northwestern State 10 (Lane, Ishmael 3). Total fouls–Southeastern Louisiana 18, Northwestern State 19. Technical fouls–Southeastern Louisiana-None, Northwestern State-None. A-1344