SLU dominates paint, complete season sweep of UIW

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team went to work inside, especially in the second half, and it led to the Lions pulling away from the University of the Incarnate Word late to complete the season sweep of the Cardinals with a 77-67 win Thursday night at the University Center.

Southeastern was cold to start on a chilly and wet evening as UIW jumped out to a 21-7 lead just eight minutes into the contest. But at that point, the SLU offense started to get into gear as Brody Rowbury flipped up a shot that went in to start a 13-2 Lions run, which was capped by another bucket by Rowbury to cut the deficit down to just 23-20 with seven minutes left before halftime.

SLU took its first lead of the game a few minutes later as Boogie Anderson’s fadeaway jumper went down to put the Lions up 28-27 with three minutes left before the break. UIW scored the next four to take a three-point lead and would maintain that advantage to the break as the Cardinals led 36-33 when the two teams headed off to the locker room.

Things didn’t start much better in the second half for the Lions as the Cardinals jumped back out to a seven-point lead just more than three minutes into the final 20 at 45-38. However, Southeastern immediately responded by going on a 15-5 run and when Rowbury got to the rim again for another layup with 11:10 left, the Lions led 53-50, a lead SLU would not surrender the rest of the way.

The Lions nursed that slim lead all the way to the end of the contest, finally pulling away in the closing moments as a 7-1 push turned a 63-60 lead with just more than five minutes left into a 72-63 lead with less than two minutes remaining following a transition layup by Anderson after Alec Woodard had forced a turnover. SLU’s lead hit double-digits for the first time with less than a minute left as Rowbury completed an old-fashioned three-point play before a Cardinal bucket was answered by a couple Roger McFarlane free throws to cap the scoring.

“I wasn’t happy with how we came out,” said SLU head men’s basketball coach David Kiefer. “I thought we started a bit lackadaisical and the ball didn’t move the way we need, but as the game went along, I felt we got into a better flow. The ball moved around better on offense and we were flying around on defense. Boogie [Anderson], Nick [Caldwell], and Brody [Rowbury] all played tremendously down low tonight.”

Anderson had another solid game for the Lions, finishing the night with 19 points to go with five assists and a steal. Rowbury came alive in the second half as he tied his season high in scoring with 18 points on eight of 12 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds, getting an assist and a steal in the process. Caldwell hit six of his 12 shots as he finished with 15 points to go with eight rebounds and a blocked shot. McFarlane finished one point shy of his fifth double-double of the season, ending the nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds to go with three assists.

SLU’s advantage in the paint proved overwhelming in this contest as the Lions out-rebounded UIW 41-26, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds compared to just four for the Cardinals which led to a 13-3 Southeastern advantage in second chance points. Points in the paint was also solidly in SLU’s favor, 46-32. The rebounding edge helped the Lions take nine more shots in the game than UIW did, 64-55, with more made field goals overall, 31-25. After the Cardinals hit seven three-pointers on 11 attempts in the first half, the Southeastern defense locked up UIW from above the arc after halftime as the Cardinals missed all seven three-point attempts they took in the final 20 minutes.

The Lions (14-9, 8-2 SLC) matched their longest win streak of the season with their fourth straight win. They look for a new season best on Saturday in front of a national television audience when Texas A&M-Corpus Christi comes to town to finish the season series with Southeastern looking to finish the season sweep. Tip-off of Saturday’s contest against the Islanders (14-9, 7-3 SLC) is set for 11:00 A.M. and will be televised on ESPNEWS. The game is being presented by North Oaks Health System with free admission and it’ll be a special Brunch with the Lions day where the first 300 students at the game get a free Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit and Community Coffee.

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.