Lions fall at Ole Miss 69-47

JACKSON, Miss. – The Southeastern Louisiana men’s basketball shot 37 percent as they fell to Ole Miss Wednesday night, 69-47, at Mississippi Coliseum.

The Rebels opened the game on a 20-7 run with 11:40 left in the first half. SLU senior Moses Greenwood scored five points before the first media timeout to keep the Lions in the game early.

Paced by Greenwood’s 11 first half points, Southeastern battled defensively through the remainder of the half and trailed 33-17 at the break.

SLU (4-5) held Ole Miss leading scorer Breein Tyree (18.4 ppg) scoreless in the first half. The Lions, however, shot just 7-for-23 from the field.

The Rebels (7-2) opened up a 20-point lead early in the second half, 41-21 with 15:55 to go. The Lions kept fighting as they cut the lead to 44-29 with 12:20 left highlighted by a baseline dunk by Greenwood. Ole Miss, however, pulled away to a 58-35 lead with 6:14 remaining. .

Southeastern, despite the tough night shooting, held Ole Miss to under 70 points. The Rebels had scored 70 or more points in seven of nine games this year.

“I thought we were pretty good defensively,” said fifth-year SLU head basketball coach Jay Ladner. “We had a few break downs here and there bought our defense gave us a chance tonight and that’s all I can ask for.”

Greenwood led all scorers with 20 points on 9-for-10 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. The Sharon, Mississippi native passed Cecil Harris in scoring for 14th all-time in program history.

“It’s getting harder and harder to find the right adjectives for Moses Greenwood,” said Ladner. “Game after game it’s the same thing. He works hard and plays hard and the results are always there.”

Ole Miss was led by Devontae Shuler with 19 points while Terrence Davis add 15 points and six rebounds.

The Rebels shot 28-for-53 from the field for 52 percent. The Lions were 19-for-51 for 37 percent.

“I thought Ole Miss had a lot to do with our shooting tonight,” said Ladner. “Their athleticism and size made it difficult for us to get into what we wanted. But overall I thought we got the shots we wanted we just didn’t knock them down and then missed a few good opportunities at the rim.”

SLU will return to action Monday at home against California Baptist at 7:30 p.m.

Links for live stats and play-by-play radio for Monday’s game will be available at the men’s basketball schedule page at LionSports.net.