Caldwell beats buzzer to beat Huskies, give Lions sixth-straight win

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team saw Nick Caldwell score the final points in regulation for the second-straight game, but this time it was three-pointer to win it with 3.9 seconds left as the Lions outlasted the Houston Christian Huskies 81-78 Saturday afternoon at the Pride Roofing University Center.

Southeastern (13-13, 8-5 SLC) enjoyed the early advantage as a Caldwell three started an 8-0 SLU run which Alec Woodard ended with his own three-pointer to put the Lions up 16-7 with 13 minutes left in the opening half. But HCU (6-18, 4-9 SLC) immediately fought back, going on a 19-9 run to take its first lead of the contest as a three-pointer made it 26-25 Huskies with six minutes to go before halftime.

While Southeastern would tie the score twice in the next few minutes, HCU would continually jump back in front as the Huskies would enjoy a five-point lead twice in the closing minutes of the half, the final time at 39-34 with a minute to go in the period. However, a layup by Avery Wilson and a pair of free throws by Caldwell got SLU back within a point, 39-38, at the break.

The Huskies scored first in the second half to push the advantage back out to three points, but a three-ball by Roger McFarlane on Southeastern’s first possession of the second half tied the score back up at 41-41 and started an 8-1 Lions push to get up 46-42 as Woodard connected on another long ball with 17:20 left.

Brody Rowbury’s floater in the lane with 16:20 left put SLU back up four points, 48-44, but HCU answered by scoring the next eight points to flip that and take its own four-point advantage at 52-48 with 13:30 to go. The Lions responded with the next six points to reclaim the lead at 54-52 as Rowbury sank a pair of free throws with 11:26 remaining on the clock.

Neither team would lead by more than a single possession until McFarlane sank another trey to put SLU up 66-61 with 7:40 left in the contest. But the Huskies wouldn’t go away, going on an 8-2 push to reclaim the lead at 69-68 on a layup with 5:20 remaining and from that point on, the margin remained within a single possession for the rest of the contest.

HCU held the advantage as the clock ticked under 1:30 to go as the Huskies were in possession of a 76-73 lead, but McFarlane tied things back up as he hit another triple. After Caldwell drew a charge to get the ball back, Southeastern jumped ahead as Caldwell tapped back in a missed three-point shot for a 78-76 lead with 45.8 left.

The Huskies worked down low and got a layup to go and tie the score at 78-78 with 21.4 left, setting the stage for SLU’s final possession of the game. With the clock ticking down, Roscoe Eastmond gave Caldwell the ball and ran to the corner, but both defenders ran with Eastmond, leaving Caldwell wide open from three on the left wing, which he calmly drained with 3.9 seconds left.

HCU quickly ran the ball into the front court and chucked up a shot at the buzzer which hit high off the glass and missed the rim entirely, securing the Lions’ sixth win in a row and seventh victory in their last eight contests, getting back to an even overall record for the first time since the second game of the season.

Caldwell collected his second-straight double-double, which is also his second double-double of the season, scoring 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds in the win. He hit seven of his 10 shot attempts, including both of his three-point attempts, and made all eight of his free throw attempts. He also had a pair of assists, two blocks, and a couple steals.

McFarlane also crossed the 20-point mark as he finished the day with 21 points as five of his eight made shots in the contest came from above the three-point arc. He secured seven rebounds while also dishing out two assists and came up with two steals. Woodard was six-of-12 from the field, including three-of-seven from three, and made two of his four free throw attempts to finish with 17 points. He collected three steals, grabbed two boards, and had an assist.

Eastmond set a new career high with 15 assists, the most in a single game of SLU’s Division I era. He added five points and a pair of steals.

Southeastern ended the game shooting 45.2% from the field and 47.6% from three. The Lions hit 10 shots from distance, seven coming in the last game’s last 20 minutes as SLU hit at a 58.3% clip from deep in the second half, including Caldwell’s game-winner.

HCU hit 50.8% of its shot attempts in the contest and 42.9% from beyond the arc in the contest. The Huskies hit six of their seven made threes in the first half where they shot at a 71.4% clip from distance, but hit only one while shooting at 14.3% from long range in the second half. There were 13 ties and 10 lead changes in the contest.

The Lions look to make it seven in a row while avenging the one loss in the current run of seven wins out of eight contests on Monday night as Lamar comes to Hammond, America for a potentially key contest in determining one of the four teams to receive at least one bye in the upcoming Southland Conference Championship Tournament. Tip-off of Monday’s contest against the Cardinals (14-11, 8-4 SLC) is set for 6 p.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center. It will also be jersey night, so we ask all fans to rock their favorite athlete’s jersey on Monday Night.

The game will be live streamed 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, worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive and LionUpRadio.org, or on smart devices on the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available at 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
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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.