Balanced Lions attack can’t overcome Santa Clara late

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team saw four players score in double figures and held Santa Clara to more than 17 points below its season average, but late shots wouldn’t fall for the Lions in a 65-63 loss to the Broncos Saturday evening at the Leavey Center.

Southeastern (1-3) struggled at the start of the contest as Santa Clara (4-0) opened the game on a 9-0 run before Alec Woodard hit a three to cut the deficit by a third just 2:30 into the contest. Trailing 18-11 with less than 10 minutes left in the first half, the Lions made their biggest run of the game as Nick Caldwell got into the paint and scored to kick off a 17-2 SLU run with a three by Roger McFarlane giving the Lions the only double-digit lead for either team in the game at 30-20 with 3:15 left before halftime. However, that would be the final points the Lions scored in the first half as SCU finished the period on a 6-0 run to cut the Southeastern lead down to 30-26 at the break.

The largest lead either team had in the second half was four points as the lead would change hands 11 times and get tied six times in the last 20 minutes. The Broncos got the first bucket of the second period, making it an 8-0 SCU run before a pair of free throws by Caldwell made it 32-28 Lions with 18:37 left in the game. The game would come down to the closing minutes as, with just less than four minutes left in the contest, a three by Woodard gave the Lions the lead back at 60-59. With 2:56 left, another pair of Caldwell free throws put Southeastern back in front at 62-61. With 2:07 left, Woodard tied the game at 63-63 by hitting another free throw, but that would be SLU’s last point in the game as a Bronco jumper in the paint with one minute left proved to be the deciding points as the basket represented the game’s final points by either team.

Woodard, in his first start of the season, led the Lions in scoring with 17 points in the contest, hitting six of his 11 shots, went two of three from three, and hit three of his four free throw attempts. He also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out two assists. Caldwell hit a three-pointer, one of his four made baskets while grabbing five rebounds, a block, and a steal. All three of McFarlane’s three made field goals came from above the arc while going four-for-four at the free throw line to finish with 13 points in the contest to go with three assists, three steals, and two rebounds. Carlos Paez hit his first two three-pointers as a Lion and was also perfect in four attempts from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points, his first double-figure scoring day as a Lion. Paez also dished out four assists, grabbed three boards, and had a steal. Roscoe Eastmond was the main facilitator on the night, dishing out a team-high five assists on the night.

SLU hit 34.0% of its shots in the contest, but was 45.0% from above the arc, hitting nine of the 11 attempts taken from deep. Southeastern was also nearly perfect from the charity stripe, going 18-of-19 from the line. Santa Clara hit on 50.9% of their shots in the contest, but just 26.1% from deep and connected on just five of its 11 free throw attempts.

The Lions will close out the five-game road trip next weekend by heading to Niceville, Fla. for the remainder of the Emerald Coast Classic. SLU’s first game of the post-Thanksgiving weekend will tip off at 1:30 p.m. on Friday as Southeastern takes on Western Michigan (0-3). The Emerald Coast Classic will be played at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida College and will be live streamed on FloSports.

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.

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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.