Box Score UNO-SEU Box Score
NEW ORLEANS – Trailing 58-38 with 13:26 remaining in the ballgame, the University of New Orleans rallied from behind for a stunning 76-69 win over Southeastern (Fla.) on Saturday night at Lakefront Arena.
UNO (2-2) scored 48 of the game's final 60 points while shutting down a SEU (5-3) offense that shot a blistering 72.7 percent from the field in the game's opening half. The Privateers held the Fire to 34.5 percent shooting in the second half while forcing 14 turnovers.
“In the second half, we played with a lot more intensity and simply played harder,” said UNO head coach
Mark Slessinger. “More than anything, it was a great team effort and reaffirmed that when our guys play as hard as they can, then they are really capable of playing good, fun, exciting basketball. “
Still trailing by 15 at 61-46 with 10:09 remaining in the contest, the Privateers put on a 18-3 run capped by an
Antonio Wertz jumper to knot the score at 64 with 3:29 remaining.
On the next SEU possession,
Brandon Knight forced a turnover and raced the other way for a go-ahead dunk. Knight converted a three-point play and UNO never looked back, gaining their largest lead of seven points in the game's final seconds.
The Privateers shot 45.9 percent from the field in the second half after a sluggish 33.3 percent performance in the opening 20 minutes. UNO struggled to a 1 of 10 start shooting while SEU was firing on all cylinders.
The visiting Fire made 9 of 11 shots to start the game to take a 19-9 lead. SEU's lead grew to 14 points with 1:31 and carried a 38-24 advantage into the half.
Lovell Cook was the top scorer for the Privateers with 16 points while Wertz and
Generra Varmall added 14 and 12 points, respectively. Wertz topped the UNO roster with eight rebounds with Cook pulling off four steals.
SEU received 17 points from Jacob Hodges, who came off the bench to lead the Fire. Dyami Thurman scored 11 points with the pair of Malcolm Pollock and Chris Carlyle scoring 10 points apiece.
“This was a very good basketball team that we fought against today, that will win a lot of games in a really strong conference,” said Slessinger of the squad that already has a Division II win to their credit. “They were very well coached.”
UNO will continue its homestand with a Monday night contest against Tennessee-Temple. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start with coverage on WGSO 990 AM and UNOPrivateers.com
