Lions lock up Racers in second half to end road trip with win

MURRAY, Ky. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team held Murray State to just five made field goals in the entire second half, none over the last 7:30 of the game, to rally from an eight-point deficit in the last 20 minutes for a 61-55 win Saturday afternoon over the Racers at the CFSB Center.

Southeastern’s win was the first-ever road victory over Murray State (3-7) in the team’s sixth contest against the Racers in Kentucky. SLU (3-8) has the win in the lone meeting between the two teams in Hammond.

The first half was as tight as could be with both teams holding a five-point lead during the period, but never getting it above that point. The Lions had the five-point advantage with 4:30 remaining in the period as Alec Woodard found Kam Burton open above the arc and Burton drained the three to give Southeastern a 22-17 advantage. However, the Racers answered that with a 12-2 run, culminating with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Murray State a 29-24 lead at the break.

Roger McFarlane opened the second half scoring with a mid-range shot, but the Racers responded by scoring the next five points to take the largest lead of the game for either team at 34-26 with 18:15 remaining in the contest. The two teams traded a pair of made free throws, allowing Murray State to reestablish the eight-point advantage before Nick Caldwell went on a personal 5-0 run, hitting from the mid-range and above the arc to make it 36-33 Racers with just less than 16 minutes left.

Murray State was able to push its lead back up to eight points following a pair of free throws with 11:15 left, making it 43-35, but Burton answered with another three and a pair of free throws by Roscoe Eastmond cut the deficit back down to three points at 43-40 with 10 minutes left in the contest. After several empty possessions by both teams, a Murray State three doubled the lead to 46-40 with 7:35 left in the game on what would be the final made field goal by the Racers in the contest.

On SLU’s next possession, Caldwell tipped back in a miss, kicking off a 10-2 Southeastern run that Caldwell finished by draining another three pointer off the right wing to give SLU its first lead since late in the first half at 50-48 with less than five minutes left. A pair of Murray State free throws tied the score up at 50-50, but McFarlane nailed a three on a second chance opportunity on the Lions’ ensuing possession which gave Southeastern the lead for the final time. SLU went on an 8-4 push over the final 3:45 as the Lions took their largest lead of the contest at seven points, 61-54, with 11 seconds remaining to secure the win.

“Our guys had an unbelievable effort from start to finish tonight,” said SLU head coach David Kiefer. “We have been on the road for a long time and it’s been hard. We could have easily given into that and we didn’t. Murray State is a great basketball school and they have a very good team. We look forward to finally getting home for the next couple of games.”

On the day where he tied Marlian Veal’s SLU career games played record, Caldwell went off for 23 points as he hit eight of his 11 shot attempts, including two of three from beyond the arc, and went five-of-six at the free throw line. He also grabbed nine rebounds while adding an assist and a steal in the win. McFarlane also worked his way out of a recent funk, hitting six of his 11 shot attempts, including two of five from three, and hit both of his free throw attempts for 16 points. He tied Caldwell for team-high honors with nine boards as well. Burton hit three of his five shot attempts, all from above the arc, to finish with nine points.

The Lions hit 21 of their 46 shot attempts in the contest to finish at 45.7% shooting. SLU also hit eight of 23 from above the arc for 34.8% from deep and was 11 of 13 at the free throw line for 84.6% at the charity stripe. After Murray State hit 41.7% of its shots in the first half, the Racers hit just five of their 23 shot attempts in the last 20 minutes, including none over the final 7:30 of the game, to finish at 21.7% in the half and 31.9% in the contest. Murray State was also six of 29 from above the three-point arc to hit at a 20.7% clip from deep, and was 19 of 23 at the free throw line to finish at 82.6% at the stripe.

With the barnstorming portion of the non-conference schedule now behind them, the Lions come home for the final two games of non-conference play, starting on Wednesday for a contest against Grambling State. Tip-off of Wednesday’s game against the Tigers (2-8) is set for 6:00 p.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center. Wednesday’s game against Grambling will be live streamed on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast available through the Southeastern Sports Radio Network on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive and LionUpRadio.org. The broadcast can also be heard on the smart device through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneInRadio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available through the host institution.

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.