Second-Half Rally Comes Up Short As Men's Hoops Falls At SLU, 93-81

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NEW ORLEANS – Junior guard Christavious Gill scored all 21of his points in the second half and the Privateers held a 57-38 scoring advantage over the final 20 minutes, but it was not enough as the University of New Orleans men's basketball team dropped a 93-81 decision to Southland Conference foe Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday evening in the University Center.
 
After seeing an early lead disappear and going without a field goal for nearly nine minutes in the first half, the Privateers found themselves down 22-13 with 7:49 to play before the break. From there, the Lions hit each of their first 12 shots of the opening stanza, including eight from beyond the 3-point arc, to blow the game open. Down 55-24, UNO mounted a huge comeback in the second half to get to within single digits at 80-72 with 2:26 to play only to see Joshua Filmore drain a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and SLU hit its free throws down the stretch.
 
"We didn't play worth a doggone defensively in the first half," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We weren't good. We didn't come out with the energy it takes to win. We didn't come out focused defensively and that was disappointing. It was very, very disappointing. This was a game that was important to us and it's one that we needed to win. We left it and we gave it away. I couldn't be more frustrated or disappointed."
 
The Privateers bounced back from a 7-of-30 shooting performance in the first half (.233) to hit half of their shots in the second (21-of-42) and finished the day 20-of-26 from the free throw line. UNO held a slight 38-37 rebounding advantage and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 20 points. The difference in the game was the Lions' offensive precision as Southeastern Louisiana hit 56.7 percent from the field (34-of-60) for the game, including a .629 clip in the first half (22-of-35).
 
Gill was one of four New Orleans student-athletes to post double-digit scoring totals as junior guard Nate Frye had 18, senior forward Kevin Hill added 17 and sophomore wing Michael Zeno chipped in with 12. Hill paced the Privateers with eight rebounds while Zeno paced the Privateers with three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.
 
UNO jumped out to an early 8-4 advantage but went cold and did not score for a span of 7:48 and went another minute without a field goal. In between Privateer baskets, Southeastern Louisiana went on a 16-1 run and led 20-11 at the 8:58 mark of the first half. JaMichael Hawkins opened the Lions' scoring barrage with a dunk and hit six of SLU's eight treys during its 33-11 rally to blow the game open.
 
The Privateers opened the second half on a 10-0 run as Zeno buried a pair of free throws, freshman guard Cameron Reed and Frye hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Frye hit two more shots from the charity stripe to get to within 21 with 17:49 on the clock. UNO followed that with a 23-12 run over the next 7:26 and got to within eight at 71-63, 73-65 and again at 80-72. Each time, the Lions had an answer and Southeastern Louisiana hit all eight of its free throws over the final 51 seconds.
 
"We didn't do the things that we worked on," Slessinger added. "We did not seal and attack on the inside. We were slow offensively. We didn't attack in the spots that we needed. They know what to do and they know how to do it. We just failed in our execution."
 
Hawkins led the Lions with a game-high 29 points after going 9-of-12 from the field, including a 6-of-7 showing from beyond the 3-point arc, and sinking all five of his free throws. Filmore followed for Southeastern with 17 points while Jordan Capps and Moses Greenwood each added 12. Capps and Currington both pulled down seven rebounds, Zay Jackson handed out a dozen assists and Dominic Nelson tallied four blocked shots.
 
The Privateers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 27, when they travel to West Texas to take on Abilene Christian at 4:00 p.m. From there, UNO will play at Nicholls on Feb. 29 before closing out the regular season at home with games against Southeastern Louisiana and Northwestern State on March 3 and 5, respectively.
 
Tickets to those games and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).