Southeastern rally falls just short to Western Michigan, 68-67

NICEVILLE, Fla. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team roared back from an 18-point second half deficit to take the lead in Friday afternoon’s game against Western Michigan, but the Lions couldn’t answer a basket with 4.5 seconds left, falling to the Broncos 68-67 at Northwest Florida State College’s Raider Arena.

Southeastern (1-4) had its defense flying around early, getting a number of early steals and transition baskets, helping the Lions get out to their largest lead of the contest as a three ball by Avery Wilson following a turnover gave SLU a 12-6 advantage with 12 minutes left before halftime. However, Western Michigan (1-4) started to get its offense into gear, going on an 11-2 run which gave the Broncos their first lead of the contest at 17-14 on a three-pointer with 8:40 to go before halftime.

WMU pushed the lead up to seven points at 26-19 with just more than two minutes left but it seemed Southeastern was starting to get some momentum heading into the break as Carlos Paez hit a couple free throws and Anthony Bittar hit a three-pointer to cut the deficit down to two points at 26-24 as the clock hit one minute to go before the break. But the Broncos scored eight points in that final minute to take the game’s first double-digit advantage into the halftime locker room at 34-24.

The 8-0 WMU run that ended the first half continued into the second half, eventually hitting 21-5 as a Bronco three-pointer with 16:15 left in the period gave Western Michigan its largest lead of the game at 18 points, 47-29. But the Lions took no time slicing into that deficit as Roscoe Eastmond got into the paint and scored with a lay-up on the ensuing SLU possession, kicking off a 12-0 Southeastern run which ended with Wilson stealing the ball away from the Broncos and finding Dylan Canoville for a transition layup to make it 47-41 WMU with 12:30 left in the contest.

Trailing 50-42 after trading buckets on several possessions, SLU got the deficit back down to one-possession for the first time since one minute left before halftime as a Paez three, a steal and layup by Roger McFarlane, and an Eastmond free throw made it a one-point game at 50-49 with 9:59 left in the contest. The Broncos slowed the run with a three-pointer to push the deficit back up to four points, but a pair of Paez free throws started a 13-3 SLU run as Nick Caldwell drained a three with 5:20 left to tie Southeastern’s largest lead of the contest at six points, 62-56. WMU answered right back with a three pointer on the next possession, cutting the SLU lead in half and setting up a dash to the finish.

Southeastern would lead by two possessions again as an Alec Woodard three put the Lions up 65-61 with 2:15 left in regulation, but again the Broncos came back with a three on their next possession to cut it back to a one-point game at 65-64. With less than a minute left, WMU hit a pair of free throws to reclaim the lead at 66-65 before Woodard followed his own miss and put it back in for put the Lions back on top at 67-66 with 15 seconds remaining. But Western Michigan got its miracle request answered as an off-balance jumper went in with 4.5 seconds left to put WMU back in front at 68-67. SLU had several chances in the remaining time to take the win, but a shot at the buzzer fell off to end the game.

Both of Southeastern’s double-figure scorers in the game came from the bench, led by Canoville whose season-high 14 points led all Lions as he hit seven of his nine shot attempts, grabbed four rebounds, and had three steals. Wilson also had his season best, hitting four of his seven shot attempts, all but one of his misses coming from above the three-point arc, to finish with 12 points. He also had a rebound, five assists, and four steals. McFarlane finished the game with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Eastmond had five points, four assists, and three steals. Caldwell had seven points, six rebounds, and a block. Woodard also had seven points, five rebounds, and two assists. Paez finished with seven points as well to go with two assists and a steal.

After hitting 32.1% from the field in the first half and just 18.8% from three in the first 20 minutes, SLU came alive in the second half, hitting 47.1% from the field and 46.2% from deep in the last 20 minutes to finish the game at 40.3% overall and 31% from three. The Southeastern defense also forced Western Michigan into 21 turnovers and scored 28 points off of those turnovers while also outscoring the Broncos in the paint, 26-14. However, when the Broncos were shooting, they were hitting, especially from three. WMU finished the game hitting 49% from the field and 50% from behind the arc, scoring 13 of their 26 three-point attempts while SLU made nine threes in the contest.

The Lions close out the five-game road trip and the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday, taking on Tennessee State. Tip-off of Saturday’s contest against the Tigers (4-2), who also dropped a one-point decision on Friday as they fell 60-59 to Mercer, is set for 10:00 a.m. at Raiders Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College. Saturday’s game will be live streamed on FloSports with a radio broadcast also available on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula arena and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org. You can also find the radio broadcast on your smart device on the Lions Gameday Experience app, TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app.

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.