McFarlane’s late shot lifts Southeastern La. over Grambling

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team led most of the way during Wednesday’s game against Grambling State, but after falling behind late, Roger McFarlane stepped up as fadeaway jumper with :14.6 left provided the winning points for the Lions in a 48-47 win over the Tigers at the Pride Roofing University Center.

Both teams started off slow, needing almost three minutes for the game’s first points to be scored, which Grambling (2-9) got on a jumper to take what would be one of just two leads for the Tigers on the evening. About a minute later, Southeastern (4-8) finally broke through as Nick Caldwell got to the rim for a layup to tie the score at 2-2. After a Grambling miss, McFarlane beat the defense down the floor for a layup to give SLU a lead that would last almost the rest of the contest. A three-pointer by Roscoe Eastmond and a McFarlane jumper completed a 9-0 run as the Lions took a 9-2 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.

Southeastern needed little time to bump the lead into double figures as a three by Caldwell pushed the lead out to 10 points at 15-5 with just less than eight minutes left before the half. Grambling scored the next five to cut the deficit in half before threes by Eastmond and Alec Woodard pushed the SLU advantage back out to 11 points at 21-10 with 3:30 left before the break. The Lions took a 24-16 lead into the halftime locker room.

Brody Rowbury opened the second half scoring, reestablishing a 10-point lead for the Lions at 26-16 almost two minutes into the second period. The lead grew to 11 points two minutes later as McFarlane and Rowbury combined to go three-for-four at the free throw line on one possession which made the score 31-20 Southeastern with 16:33 to go. Grambling quickly scored the next five to cut that down to six. SLU scored the next six on a McFarlane jumper, a Rowbury layup, and a pair of Woodard free throws to give the Lions their largest lead of the contest at 12 points, 37-25, with 12:30 remaining in the contest.

Grambling rallied back in a big way, going on a 13-2 run to make it a one-point game at 39-38 with 7:45 left, setting up a frantic finish. Southeastern scored the next five to push that lead back out to six as Rowbury got to the rim again to make it 44-38 with less than 3:30 left. The Tigers answered with four points on the ensuing possession, fueled by a technical foul, to make it a one score game again and kick off a 9-2 run which gave Grambling its first lead since 2-0 as a three-pointer gave the Tigers a 47-46 advantage with just more than 30 seconds remaining.

That’s where McFarlane’s heroics came in as he worked his way into the paint just below the free throw line and hit a fadeaway jumper with :14.6 left to put Southeastern back up 48-47. Grambling got its shot at a game-winner at the buzzer, but the leaner from near the free throw line fell off the rim and Caldwell snagged the rebound to secure the win as the horn blared.

McFarlane finished the game with team highs in both scoring and rebounding, coming one board shy of a double-double with his final stat line reading 13 points and nine rebounds. After not scoring in the first half, Rowbury came alive in the second half and finished with 10 points as he hit four of his five shot attempts while also grabbing six rebounds and had an assist. On the night where he became Southeastern’s record holder for most games played in a SLU uniform, Caldwell also flirted with a double-double, ending the night with nine points and eight rebounds to go with three steals, two assists, and a block. Eastmond ended the evening with six points, six assists, and three rebounds.

Southeastern finished the evening hitting 36.2% of its shots from the field and 29.4% from above the arc as all five of SLU’s makes from long range came during the first half. Grambling ended the game hitting 40% from the field after shooting 47.8% in the second half. The Tigers also hit 35% from three, getting five of their seven hits from long range in the last 20 minutes.

The Lions are now off for the Christmas holiday and return to action next Saturday, December 30th, to wrap up the 2023 and non-conference portion of the schedule as Loyola-New Orleans makes the drive up to Hammond, America. Tip-off of that game against the Wolf Pack (4-8) is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center and it 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 smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneInRadio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available on 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.