Men's Basketball Clinches Southland Tourney Berth With 97-86 Victory

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NEW ORLEANS – Pressure can affect different people in different ways. Sometimes, it can be too much to overcome and individuals can crack. On some rare and special occasions, pressure can do things like turn coal into diamonds.

Facing a must-win situation against Southland Conference foe Northwestern State in the regular-season finale on Saturday evening in Lakefront Arena, The University of New Orleans men's basketball team got a gem of a performance from junior guard Christavious Gill as the Privateers downed the Demons, 97-86, and clinched a spot in the SLC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The native of Alexandria, Louisiana, poured in a career-high 38 points to go with five assists and four steals.

With the win, and other games around the SLC on Saturday, the Privateers locked up the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament to improve to 10-19 on the year and 6-12 in league play. UNO will open postseason play on Wednesday, March 9, with a 5 p.m. (CST) showdown with fifth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. Northwestern State, meanwhile, was eliminated for SLC Tournament contention and concluded the 2015-16 season 8-20 on the year and 5-13 in conference play.

"It was really a fantastic team effort," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We, of course, were led by Christavious, who played like he was 20-feet tall today rather than five-foot, six and three-quarter inches. We're really proud of him. He's battled through some adversity this year. We had great efforts by everybody that came in across the board. I'm very proud of the team and we're blessed to have an opportunity to go to the Southland Conference Tournament and compete to go to the NCAAs."

Junior forward Erik Thomas posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, and senior forward Kevin Hill came up with 15 points in his final home game at UNO. Junior guard Nate Frye, who was plagued by foul troubles and limited to 20 minutes of action before fouling out, had eight of the team's 19 assists.

Gill was 11-of-20 from the field, including an 8-of-12 showing from beyond the 3-point arc, while sinking 8-of-11 free throw opportunities. His effort helped the Privateers hit 56.7 percent of their shots from the field on the night (34-of-60), including an 11-for-22 showing from 3-point land. Gill's eight treys tied the Lakefront Arena record, originally established by Tory Walker vs North Texas on Feb. 14, 2001, and was one shy of the school's overall record of nine set by Jamie Parlow against Florida Atlantic on Jan. 4, 2007.

"When you look at a program builder and the guys that come in, they buy in to what you're doing," Slessinger said. "We're really lucky. We were [Gill's] only scholarship offer coming out of high school. Having worked in Natchitoches for 11 years, I've known that kid since he was in eighth grade. For what he doesn't have in height, he has in guts and heart. He's a great kid who comes from a great family, and he just needed an opportunity. This was a great payoff for him and it's an affirmation that when you work hard and you care about your team more than yourself, good things will happen."

Northwestern State opened the scoring with a basket by Ishmael Lane on the first possession of the contest, but the Privateers answered with a pair of layups by Hill sandwiched around a Gill 3-pointer to give New Orleans a 7-2 lead it would not relinquish. The Demons got to within one point at 14-13 following a pair of Tra'von Joseph free throws with 12:51 to play in the first half before freshman guard Coleman Edwards bury a 3-pointer and sophomore forward Travin Thibodeaux follow with a layup to stake the Privateers to make it a six-point contest.

UNO led by as many as 10 in the opening stanza at 35-25 with 6:32 to go before the break and held a nine-point advantage at 40-31 just over two and a half minutes later. The Demons, however, outscored the Privateers 8-3 the rest of the half to make it a four-point contest.

Clinging to a 43-39 lead to start the second half, UNO opened the final frame with a 15-6 run to go on top by 13 and stretched the lead to 17 on three occasions in the second half. The Privateers appeared ready to cruise with a 75-58 advantage with 9:10 to play, but Northwestern State refused to go away quietly. The Demons used a 12-0 run over the next 2:47 to make it a five-point contest. Almost single handedly, Gill thwarted the rally as he had 10 if the Privateers' next 11 points to extend the lead back to double figures and the only time the Demons got as close as nine was with 27 seconds remaining in regulation.

"We just wanted to come out and play well," Slessinger added. "The guys knew [the situation] but we kind of deemphasized it and said, 'Hey, we have to go play. We have to get one stop and then try and get one basket.' We really tried to simplify it and not overanalyze it. Northwestern State made an incredible run in the second half and came to within five, but our guys kept their poise, made some shots and got some stops."

Zeek Woodley led Northwestern State with 25 points while Devonte Hall and Sabri Thompson added 16 and 13, respectively. Joseph paced the Demons with seven rebounds and Hall headlined the squad with eight assists and six steals.

Each game of the Southland Conference Tourney will be broadcoast on ESPN3, with the exception of Saturday's championship game. That contest, which will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. with the winner earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, will be televised live nationally on ESPN2.