Southeastern Louisiana sets Southland record with 19 threes in win over Southeastern Baptist

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team set an all-time Southland Conference record hitting 19 threes in a 128-58 win over Southeastern Baptist College Friday night in the University Center in the Lions’ 2021-22 home opener.

The Lions (1-1) were led by junior Matthew Strange and Roger McFarlane each scoring a career-high 23 points. Strange, out of the Woodlands, Texas, finished the game 8-for-12 from the field and 7-for-9 from the three-point line. McFarlane was 11-for-18 from the field.

SLU opened the game in control but held a modest 26-12 lead with 12:52 left in the first half. However, the Lions turned up the intensity exploding on a 23-5 run opening up a monster halftime lead, 77-32. Southeastern finished the opening half shooting an eye-popping 70 percent (28-for-40).

With the game well in hand, SLU head coach David Kiefer elected to sit his entire starting lineup, including preseason All-Southland selections Gus Okafor and Keon Clergeot, for the entire second half.

But the firepower of Strange and McFarlane kept the Lions in complete control. McFarlane caught fire in the second half scoring 19 of his 23 points while Strange drilled three of his seven three-pointers in the final 20 minutes as the Lions cruised to the win.

“It was nice just to get back in front of the home crowd and play in front of our fans,” said Kiefer. “Our guys played really well tonight. They shared the ball and made shots but I was just proud with our effort top to bottom.”

Strange, the hero of the night, caught Kiefer’s attention post game as the Lions’ junior entered Friday with a career-high of six points before the shooting clinic Friday night.

“There is nobody in our program since I’ve been here that has taken more shots and practiced more than Matt,” said Kiefer. “It was good to see the ball go in for him in a game and see his confidence go up. He’s an exceptionally hard worker and a great young man so I was happy to see that work out for him tonight.”

Southeastern finished the game 49-84 from the field (58 percent) and 19-for-40 (47 percent) from the three-point line. SLU also finished with 30 assists, the fourth most in program history. The Lions also had just eight turnovers for the game.

SLU got double figures from Clergeot, Joe Kasperzyk and Jalyn Hinton with 11, 11 and 10 respectively. Hinton also added four blocks to aid the Lions. Sophomore Jondarius Warren finished with a career-high 11 rebounds helping SLU outrebound the Chargers 54-36.

The Chargers (0-11) were led by William Thompson and Larry Holmes 12 points each to pace Southeastern Baptist.

Next up, SLU will begin preparation for Sunday’s Maxwell Lieberman Classic matchup with Paul Quinn College at 1 p.m. in the University Center.

The game takes on special meaning to SLU men’s basketball associate head coach Mark Lieberman. The third-year Lions’ coach lost his four month old son back in 2012. Fans are encouraged to donate to March of Dimes at (https://p2p.onecause.com/marchofdimes/accept?challenger=riley-conroy&team=maxwell-lieberman-classic).

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
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

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 for the 2020-21 season. 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.