Late Run Leads Men's Basketball Past Southeastern Louisiana, 60-52

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HAMMOND, La. – It is rare that a game which featured a combined 39 turnovers, 72 missed shots and countless stoppages due to issues with the shot and game clock is compared to William Shakespeare, but the Privateers lived up to The Bard's mantra "All's Well That Ends Well" as the University of New Orleans men's basketball team defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 60-52, on Saturday evening in the University Center.

UNO found itself down by 10 in the first half and in a five-point hole at 37-32 with 11:54 to play in regulation, but the Privateers whittled the deficit down to three at 39-36 just over a minute later. An alley-oop dunk by senior forward Erik Thomas sparked a key 11-0 run and the defense held the Lions scoreless for a stretch of 8:17 to come out on top.

Thomas finished with a double-double after tallying a game-high 20 points and a team-leading 12 rebounds as New Orleans won its third-straight game to improve to 15-9 on the year and maintain sole possession of first place in the SLC standings at 10-3. Southeastern Louisiana, meanwhile, dropped its third consecutive game to fall to 13-13 overall and 6-7 in league play.

"What a crazy night," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "It was by far our worst shooting night of the year, but we played so hard on both ends of the floor. Southeastern is very, very tough here. They've very good defensively here. I'll take it. I'm not going to overcomplicate things. We figured out a way to win on a tough night in a tough environment.

"There were some technical issues with mechanical stuff here that wasn't anyone's fault, and our guys kept their focus. They kept locked in on what was going on. They stuck with the game plan and they kept their energy up. That was the biggest thing. Through all of those starts and stops, they kept their energy up and did a tremendous job."

Entering the game with an SLC-best 47.6 field goal percentage, UNO managed just a .327 clip against the Lions on Saturday after connecting on just 18-of-55 shots from the field, including an 8-for-28 performance in the second half (.286). The difference in the game was defensive intensity as the Privateers held Southeastern Louisiana to a 37.5 field goal percentage (21-of-56) – the fourth-lowest performance by a New Orleans opponent during the 2016-17 season.

Both teams pulled down 41 rebounds and managed eight assists apiece. The Lions, meanwhile, were called for 26 personal fouls and the Privateers took advantage by going 19-of-27 at the stripe, including a key 8-of-9 showing over the final 20 seconds to put the game away.

Thomas was one of three Privateers to finish in double figures offensively as senior guards Christavious Gill and Tevin Broyles posted 16 and 10 points, respectively. Junior forward Travin Thibodeaux led the team with three assists and a trio of steals. He was one of three UNO student-athletes to tally a blocked shot as junior forward Makur Puou and junior swing man Michael Zeno also had a deflection.

Thomas' game-changing dunk made it 39-38 in favor of the Lions, but junior guard Jorge Rosa followed with a pair of free throws, junior guard Nate Frye converted a layup and Gill nailed a 3-pointer and 2 free throws during the Privateers' next two possessions to give New Orleans a 47-39 lead it would not relinquish.

The dunk also snapped a 3:16 stretch without a point for either team and Southeastern missed 10 consecutive shots and turned the ball over five times before an Eddy Polanco trey made it a 47-42 contest with 2:28 to go. Southeastern Louisiana followed with a 3-pointer by Marlin Veal the next time down the court to make it a two-point affair, but New Orleans sandwiched a Thomas jumper and a Gill 3-pointer around a jumper by the Lions' James Currington to take make it 52-47 with 31 seconds remaining and set up the Privateers' game-icing free throws.

"That was an unbelievable play," Slessinger said of the dunk. "If that's not a SportsCenter Top 10 play, I don't know what is. It was crazy how we pulled that off. It led to us getting things rolling. We were really unselfish during that stretch. We passed up a couple of good shots for great shots. Guys gave up some shots that they could have pulled to get their teammate an even better one. We were in attack mode, either trying to get a basket or trying to get to the free throw line."

The Privateers drew first blood as Broyles nailed a jumper on the game's opening possession, but UNO gave up the next seven points and did not score another field goal for nearly four minutes as the Lions roared out to a 9-3 lead. The Southeastern Louisiana lead swelled to as many as 10 at 15-5 with 13:30 to play in the opening period before the Privateers rattled off 10 unanswered points to tie the contest up. The Lions scored the next six to take a 21-15 advantage with 5:44 to go before the break and UNO answered by closing out the half on a 12-2 run to take a 27-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

New Orleans' momentum did not carry over into the second half, however, as Southeastern Louisiana opened the half with a 9-2 rally to take a 32-29 lead with 15:33 on the clock. The two teams traded blows over the next 3:18, and the Lions appeared to retake control of the ballgame as Moses Greenwood hit a layup and Marlain Veal connected on 1-of-2 free throws to stretch the lead back to five.

UNO answered with a free throw by Thomas and a trey by Gill to cut the deficit to one, and Greenwood thwarted the rally momentarily with a jumper to make it 39-36. Neither team could get much going for a while, but a Veal turnover led to Thomas' dunk and the game belonged to the Privateers from there.

"I'm so excited for our guys," Slessinger added. "Men's basketball [at UNO] is in first place, but more importantly, our University is in first place. Our faculty and staff are in first place. Our students and our alumni are in first place. And our city is in first place. Every one of them deserve it. We wouldn't be here without all of those people pushing us and helping us, and this being a team effort. This is what the whole thing is about."

Veal paced Southeastern Louisiana with 14 points, six assists and three steals. Dominic Nelson led all players with game-high totals of 14 rebounds and four blocks for the Lions.

The Privateers return to action on Saturday, Feb. 18 when they play host to Central Arkansas at 4 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. The showdown with the Bears is the first of two straight home games for UNO, which will play Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 23. For tickets to those game, as well as future New Orleans Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office over the phone at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or via the Internet by clicking HERE.