Southeastern downs Sam Houston State to reach Southland championship game

KATY, Texas. – Southeastern Louisiana is 40 minutes away from punching its dance card.

The top-seeded Lions made 18 of 19 free throws in the final seven minutes, including a stretch of 13 straight, to pull away from No. 4 Sam Houston State for an 89-79 victory in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals Friday night at the Merrell Center.

Southeastern (22-10) advances to the tournament title game for the second time in school history and will play No. 3 Stephen F. Austin – winners of the other Friday semifinal over No. 2 see Nicholls – on Saturday at 8 p.m. The Lions will be looking to join the 2004-05 team as the only Southeastern teams to win the conference tournament and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re excited certainly about tonight’s win,” Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner said. “I want to congratulate coach (Jason) Hooten and Sam Houston. They are an outstanding team. They are very impressive and they play with great effort so anytime you can be successful on the scoreboard against them, you have to feel good because it’s always hard-fought. It’s never going to be easy against them. I’m real proud of our guys. We did a great job of shooting free throws down the stretch and getting some key defensive stops. They continue to persevere. Obviously, whoever the opponent is tomorrow night, we’re going to have our hands full. It will be a quick turnaround but we’re excited about playing for the championship.”

Saturday’s game will be televised by ESPN2. The game can also be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. Links to the stream, radio and live stats will be accessible on the Southeastern men’s basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

SLU fans who purchase tickets on game day at the Merrell Center are encouraged to visit the Southeastern Athletics window at the tournament site.

Junior guard Marlain Veal went 14-for-14 from the line in tying a career high with 29 points. He also had seven assists in passing Leo McClure as the Southeastern career leader with 439. Senior guard Eddy Polanco was 6-for-6 on free throws in adding 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. The Lions shot 80 percent (28-of-35) from the line, including 88.5 percent (23-of-26) in the second half.

Junior guard Keith Charleston tied a career high with 15 points and added six boards while junior forward Moses Greenwood contributed 11 points as Southeastern shot 53.2 percent, 47.8 on 3s.

Sam Houston (19-14) was led by John Dewey III with 15 points and three assists. Jamal Williams had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Josh Delaney also had 13 points and three assists while Chris Galbreath Jr. tossed in 11 points and had five rebounds. Cameron Delaney added 11 points. The Bearkats shot 44.8 percent, including 43.5 percent on 3s. They were also 81.0 percent at the line (17-of-21).

Sam Houston rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to take a 63-62 lead on two Marcus Harris free throws with 7:26 remaining. But Harris and Hooten were called for technical fouls after Harris was called for a foul with seven minutes left. Veal hit all six free throws to give Southeastern a 68-63 lead.

Cameron Delaney hit a 3 to pull Sam Houston to within 70-69 with 5:14 left. But Charleston countered with a 3 and senior guard Quinton Thomas hit a free throw to make it 76-71 with 3:05 remaining. The Bearkats had a chance to answer but Dewey missed a layup on the break. Charleston then knocked down a 3 before finding Greenwood inside to extend the Lions’ lead to 81-71 with 1:10 left.

Southeastern knocked down seven 3s in taking a 36-32 halftime lead. Veal came out of the half with a pair of baskets to push the lead to 40-32 with 18:31 remaining. Sam Houston used a 9-0 run to take its first lead since the first two minutes of the game at 41-40 on two Galbreath free throws at the 16:19 mark.

Four lead changes and a tie later, three straight Veal assists to Greenwood gave Southeastern a 52-46 advantage with 13:02 left. A three-point play by Williams tied the game at 58 with 9:08 remaining before two Veal free throws and a Polanco layup put the Lions back up 62-58 at the 8:15 mark.

Veal hit a pair of 3s to give Southeastern an 8-4 lead with 17:07 left in the opening half. After a 3 by Dewey, the Lions went on an 18-3 run over the next 7:48 to take a 26-10 lead on two free throws by senior forward Jordan Capps at the 8:48 mark. Charleston had a 3 and senior guard Joshua Filmore hit a pair from beyond the arc during the run.

Freshman forward Brandon Gonzalez gave Southeastern a 29-14 lead with a 3 from the left corner with 7:42 remaining. Sam Houston came back with a 9-2 run over the ensuing 3:16 to pull to within 31-23 on a 3-pointer by Abrian Edwards at the 4:26 mark. Three Edwards free throws and two by Cameron Delaney cut the deficit to 33-30 with 1:30 left. But Capps responded with a layup to push the lead back to five.

NOTES
Southeastern extended its Division I school record win streak to nine games. The Lions also broke a seven-game losing streak to Sam Houston.

Southeastern defeated Sam Houston, 71-62, in the 2005 tournament semifinals.

Veal’s 14 free throws were a career high while his 14-for-14 performance was the second-best in school history. C.A. Core went 15-for-15 against McNeese on Jan. 12, 1965.