Gill, Hill Tie Career Highs in 81-71 Rout of McNeese

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New Orleans, La. – With a career-high 21 points from both Christavious Gill and Kevin Hill, the New Orleans men's basketball team got back to its winning ways with an 81-71 win over McNeese State in the Lakefront Arena on Monday night.
 
The win bolsters the Privateers to 7-13 on the year and 3-8 in the Southland Conference after a 59-percent night shooting from the field as a team.
 
"We took care of the basketball and that was the key tonight," said New Orleans head coach Mark Slessinger. "It's a great game every time we play. We attacked off the ball screen well and got good shots in the paint and our threes all came off of inside out passes. We shot the ball well tonight and came out on top."
 
In a game that saw 11 lead changes and seven ties it was a Nate Frye jumper with 4:46 remaining in regulation that put New Orleans on top for good, 64-62. Back-to-back field goals from Gill and Tevin Broyles then extended the lead to seven at 69-62 with just over two minutes to play with key free-throw shooting handing the Privateers a 10-point win down the stretch.
 
McNeese, now 9-13 overall and 3-8 in the conference, took its largest lead of the night within the first five minutes, going up 13-5 after a layup.
 
But the Privateers answered with a 14-3 run, taking the lead off of an old-fashioned three-point play from Frye, setting the score at 19-18 with 10:38 to go.
 
After the Cowboys went back up in the last four minutes, 28-27, it was New Orleans that ended the half with momentum, going on a 10-2 run to end the period on back-to-back three-pointers from Gill, sending the game into the break 35-30 New Orleans.
 
Out of the intermission New Orleans bolstered its lead up to six with a layup from Kevin Brown, 39-33, through the first two minutes. But McNeese found its offensive rhythm, taking a five-point lead at the 11:37 mark, 52-47.
 
A 6-0 run from the Privateers swung the lead back in favor of the home team as a Tevin Broyles layup put New Orleans back in the driver's seat at 53-52 with 8:35 to play.
 
The Cowboys then retook the lead up until the go-ahead jumper from Nate Frye that put New Orleans in the lead for good.
 
Gill and Hill tied for the game lead in points with their 21, Gill going 8-of-10 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc while Hill tossed in nine of his 11 free-throw attempts.
 
Frye was the third Privateer in double-figures with his 12.
 
Travin Thibodeaux also put together a nice night, bringing in four rebounds to go with his two assists and two blocks.
 
As a team the Privateers went 22-of-29 from the line and 59 percent from the field while putting in 40 points in the paint.
 
New Orleans is back on the road for its next contest, heading to Corpus Christi, Texas for a Monday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m. CT game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

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