SLU clinches postseason spot by finishing sweep of New Orleans

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team didn’t have the best start to Saturday afternoon’s game against New Orleans, but the Lions came alive over the last 12 minutes of the first half and cruised to a 77-67 win over the Privateers in the Pride Roofing University Center

The Lions officially clinched a spot in the 2024 Jersey Mike’s Southland Conference Basketball Championship Tournament presented by Explore Louisiana in the process.

The game’s first eight minutes could not have gone much slower for Southeastern (14-14, 9-6 SLC) as the Lions missed its first six field goal attempts while turning the ball over eight times during that time span as New Orleans (8-20, 3-12 SLC) jumped out to a 16-6 lead with 12 minutes left in the opening period as all six Lions points up to that point were scored at the free throw line by Nick Caldwell.

However, Caldwell’s three with 11:45 left burst the cap which had been on the SLU basket and the points started to pour in for the Lions as Southeastern went on a 16-1 run, which Roscoe Eastmond ended with a three-pointer of his own to give SLU a 22-17 lead, an advantage the Lions would not surrender for the rest of the contest.

The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes, cutting Southeastern’s lead to 24-21 with 6:30 remaining, but a three by Kam Burton started the next big SLU burst as the Lions ended the half on a 19-4 run with Caldwell’s heave from center court as the halftime buzzer sounded gave SLU an 18-point lead at the break, 43-25.

All told, from the time UNO led by 10 points to the end of the half, Southeastern outscored the Privateers 37-9 over the final 12 minutes of the first half.

UNO came out strong to start the second half, opening the period on an 11-4 run over the first 5:15 to cut the Southeastern lead down to 47-36. Southeastern stunted that Privateer run as a layup by McFarlane started an 11-5 SLU run to get the edge back up to 17 points as another McFarlane layup with 10:45 left made it 58-41 Lions. Over the next few minutes, the Lions slowly pushed the lead out even further, getting the lead up to its peak of 20 points with seven minutes remaining in the game as Burton drained another three-pointer to put Southeastern up 71-51.

The Privateers had one last run in them in the attempt to make it a game again, outscoring the Lions 16-3 over the next 6:25 to cut the SLU lead down to just seven points at 74-67 with less than 40 seconds left. Brody Rowbury went three-for-four from the free throw line down the stretch while the Southeastern defense forced two missed three-point attempts and a turnover by UNO from that point to the buzzer for the game’s final score.

After scoring Southeastern’s first 30-point game in two seasons, Caldwell came up with his ninth 20-point game of the season, and fourth game scoring at least 20 points in a row, finishing the game with 22 points. He missed his fourth-straight double-double by one board as he finished with nine rebounds. He also blocked a shot in the contest.

McFarlane came alive in the second half and picked up his ninth double-double of the season in emphatic fashion, finishing the game with 18 points and a career high 17 rebounds. Burton proved to be a major threat from the outside off the bench for SLU in the contest, hitting five of his eight shot attempts, all from deep, to finish with 15 points while grabbing three rebounds, contributing an assist, and picking up a steal as well. Eastmond rounded out the leading scorers for the Lions in the contest, ending the contest with 10 points while his eight assists keeps him atop the Southland in dimes. He also grabbed four rebounds along with a steal in the contest.

Southeastern ended the day shooting 40.4% from the field and 39.1% from above the three-point arc as the Lions his nine shots from long distance. SLU was also effective from the free throw stripe, hitting 22 of its 26 attempts from the charity stripe, hitting at an 84.6% clip from the line. UNO hit 41.1% from the field, matching SLU in made field goals in the contest as both teams hit 23 shots in the contest.

However, the Privateers struggled from deep, hitting just three of their 22 attempts from above the arc, finishing the game hitting on 13.6% of the shots from three. UNO also got a substantial number of free throws, taking 27 free throws during the contest, making 18 to finish at 66.7% from the stripe.

The win completes SLU’s third season sweep of a SLC foe this season, having also taken the home and away matchups over Houston Christian and Northwestern State this year, while also completing the second-straight regular season sweep of the Privateers after SLU won both regular season meetings against UNO in 2022-23. The Lions took the first meeting this season at UNO by a 73-68 score last month.

After a successful February, where the Lions finished the month with a 6-1 record, SLU now heads out for its final two road games of the regular season, starting next Saturday in Corpus Christi for a date with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Tip-off of Saturday’s contest against the Islanders (17-10, 10-4 SLC) is set for 3:30 p.m. in the American Bank Center. The game against A&M-Corpus Christi will be live streamed on ESPN+, but a radio broadcast will not be available. Live stats will also be available at through the host institution.

UNO is off until next Saturday as well when they face UIW in San Antonio. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. with broadcasts available on ESPN+ (video), 106.1 FM (radio) and NASHFM106.1.com (audio stream). The Privateers are in 10th place in the SLC standings but still have the opportunity to earn a conference tournament berth with three games remaining.

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.