GAME BOOK (PDF) | POSTGAME QUOTES
BEAUMONT, Texas – It started with a sense of confidence, developed into a laugher and quickly became a nailbiter. When the final horn sounded and the gamut of emotions was run, the University of New Orleans men's basketball team experience d a combination of relief and exuberance as the Privateers hung on to defeat Southland Conference foe Lamar, 68-64, on Monday evening in the Montagne Center.
After leading by 12 with 9:34 to play, UNO saw Lamar fight its way back into the ballgame with a 20-7 run over the next 7:07 to tie the game at 64-all. New Orleans got a big basket from senior
Kevin Hill with 54.5 seconds to play and added a pair of free throws by freshman guard
Cameron Reed with 1.5 seconds to go to come away with the victory.
"I'm really proud of our poise and the confidence we played with," head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "They never lost their confidence in each other. They never lost their confidence in what we were doing and executing. They stuck with the game plan all the way down to the end and really did a great job. We were selfless and didn't play selfishly at any point in time. Road wins are tough and we made this one harder than it probably needed to be.
"[Assistant] Coach [Jody] Bailey made a great point in the locker room that the Tulane loss, which broke our hearts, was a gut-wrenching loss along with the one at UMass led to this one. We were able to close this one out and when you look at the big picture, we had great practices after those losses. We had great practices after Christmas. We had great practices after the new year. That's where I saw the character of this team revealed. They've been working their tails off to get better and improve. I'm really proud of them. This was a team effort"
The win was the second in a row for the Privateers, who improved to 5-7 overall, and marked the second time in as many seasons UNO opened SLC action with a win over Lamar. The four-point win also marked New Orleans' first conference-opening win on the road since defeating South Alabama, 64-58, on Jan. 8, 2004, in Mobile, Alabama. The Cardinals, meanwhile, saw their four-game winning streak come to an end to fall to 9-5 on the year and 1-1 in conference play.
Hill came off the bench to post a double-double with team-high totals of 18 points and 10 rebounds. He finished 5-of-10 from the field and was 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Hill was one of four UNO student-athletes to finish in double figures offensively as junior guard
Christavious Gill had 11 – all of which came in the second half – while Reed and junior point guard
Nate Frye added 10 apiece.
"He really did a great job and was efficient offensively," Slessinger said of Hill. "He didn't force things that weren't there. He really played a smart basketball game. He's so good from the free throw line and we trust him on the line. We've had him on the line before and he's won many games for us from there. In the end, we were fine. It was a good night for him and I was really proud of all of the guys."
As a team, the Privateers hit 33.8 percent of its field goals (23-of-68) and were 6-of-16 from beyond the 3-point arc (.375). Lamar held a commanding 52-41 rebounding average and turned 23 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points. The difference in the game, however, came down to key stops late by the Privateers and turnovers as UNO forced 28 miscues, including 16 via steals, and turned those into 31 points.
Frye had five of the Privateers steals, followed by junior guard
Tevin Broyles with four and Gill with a pair. Broyles paced New Orleans with four assists. In addition to the thefts total, UNO held Lamar to a .365 clip from the field (23-of-63), well below their season average of .432 the Cardinals entered the game with.
"All of that credit goes to our staff," Slessinger added. "It was [assistant] Coach [Kris] Arkenberg's scout and he, Coach Schmidt, Bailey and Bil did a great job of getting the team ready to go. They had all of the answers. They had these guys prepped, ready and tuned up and that showed all the way to that steal that Christavious had. We worked on that in our preparation and our scout, and that wound up being one of the keys to our win down the stretch."
Taking the court in the second half with a 36-28 lead, the Privateers pushed the lead to double figures on a Gill 3-pointer to make it 49-37 with 15:20 to play. It remained a 12-point game at 57-48 with 9:34 to play, but the Cardinals refused to go away quietly and eventually tied the game at 64-64 when Kevin Booze sank the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity.
His second try was off the mark and UNO kept Lamar off the scoreboard over the final 2:27. Both teams came up empty on their ensuing possessions and Hill corralled a pass from junior guard
Tevin Broyles in the low post for an easy layup with 54.5 seconds remaining to give UNO the lead for good.
Lamar had several chances to tie or take the lead as the Cardinals missed a 3-pointer the next time down the floor and had a four-shot possession the next time they had the ball. Frye pulled down the loose ball, but missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw with 6.5 seconds remaining. Lamar had new life, but Nick Garth stepped on the sideline near midcourt on his way toward the Cardinals' basket with 1.5 seconds to go and Reed's free throws put the game away.
"We had one stretch that I wish we could take back and I wish I would have used a timeout there," Slessinger said. "We needed them all down the stretch. It was good having that timeout there at the end and getting the play that we wanted and were able to get Cameron the ball there on that split with 1.5 seconds left.
"I keep saying it, but this was a team effort. I'm so proud of the guys. They do all of the things we're asking of them. We're building a program. We're building a program that's going to last a long time. This is something that all of the great alumni, the students, faculty and staff can hopefully all be proud of. That will honor the teams that came before us that were so good and so special."
The Privateers scored the first four points of the game on baskets by Broyles and junior forward
Erik Thomas, and led 6-3 at the first media timeout. Lamar tied the game at 6-6 and again at 8-all, but UNO never gave up the lead. New Orleans used a 9-2 run to go up 17-10 with 9:11 to play in the stanza only to see the Cardinals make a two-point contest four times over the final eight-plus minutes of the half. Clinging to a 28-26 lead with 1:18 to play before the break, the Privateers closed out the half with an 8-2 run capped by a Broyles jumper in the lane as the buzzer sounded and UNO went into the locker room up by eight and set up the wild second half.
Garth led Lamar with 15 points, followed by Dontaviuos Sears with 13 and Booze with 12. Sears completed a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds, Booze had a team-best four assists and Sears led all players with four blocked shots.
The Privateers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 9, when they travel to Hunstville, Texas, to take on at Sam Houston State on Saturday, Jan. 9, before returning home to face Incarnate Word on Monday, Jan. 11. Tickets to that contest, which is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m., and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking
HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).
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