Southern outlasts Southeastern, 72-66, with 20 made free throws in second half

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team had a 12-point first half lead before Southern rallied in the second half for a 72-66 victory Saturday night F.G. Clark Activity Center in Baton Rouge.

SLU (4-6) had three players score in double figures led by Keon Clergeot with 16 and Jaylyn Hinton with 14. Joe Kasperzyk added 10 to pace the Lions.

Tyrone Lyons, the game-high scorer with 21 points, led Southern (5-6). SU’s Brion Whitley was the only other Jaguar in double figures with 11 points.

Southeastern took control early in the game as they methodically built a double-digit first half-lead, 32-20, with 5:26 left in half. However, the Jaguars went on an 11-0 to close the gap to one, 32-31. The Lions would retake a two-possession lead at halftime, 36-31.

In the second half, the game seesawed as there were eight ties and five lead changes. With 5:53 to go, SLU’s Jondarius Warren grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and went coast to coast to give the Lions a 61-59 lead.

The Jaguars tied the game at 61-61 at the final media timeout. as the game was up for grabs. However, despite the Lions’ relentless defense, Southern was able to get to the free throw 28 times in the second half alone. The Jaguars scored nine of their final 11 points from the free throw line to sneak past the Lions.

SLU finished the game 26-for-55 from the field and 10-14 from the free throw line. The Jaguars were 24-for-50 but finished 20-28 from the free throw line despite being forced into 20 turnovers by SLU.

Next up, Southeastern will travel to face the Louisville Cardinals out of the ACC Tuesday night at 5 p.m. CT in Louisville, Kentucky.