HAMMOND, La. – A tale of two halves saw the Lions dominate the opener and the Privateers storm back to cut a 25-point deficit to seven but Southeastern Louisiana University (17-10, 11-3 Southland) took the first of two games over the University of New Orleans (13-12, 10-4 Southland) 71-64 Wednesday evening at the University Center.
All 11 of
Lamont Berzat's points came in the second half and the freshman finished 4-of-6 with nine coming from three-point range. The team leader was
Troy Green, who finished with 13 points – all in the second frame.
Damion Rosser was 3-of-4 with three boards for nine points.
"We missed a lot of close baskets in the first and put ourselves in a deficit," said head coach
Mark Slessinger. "The bench sparked us in the second half with Damion and Troy and we finished our shots in the paint but we cannot come out and put ourselves in an early hole."
FIRST HALF
The Lions went 8-of-13 early in the game to jump out to a 18-5 lead at the under-12 media. Overall, the Southeastern Louisiana went on an 18-0 run before the
Ezekiel Charles triple ended the run and made it 20-8 SLU.
The Green and Yellow shot 53.3 percent in the first half to take a 40-17 lead into the locker room. For the Privateers,
Travin Thibodeaux ended the stanza with three blocked shots and Charles led the club with six points. Berzat pulled three rebounds and dished two assists.
SECOND HALF
A quick 9-0 UNO run forced a Southeastern Louisiana timeout with 14:37 remaining with the Lions ahead 44-28. The Lions did not score for five minutes during the New Orleans run.
Berzat caught fire and following
Tyren Harrison's heads up play to draw a charge, draining his third triple of half with 10:28 to go to cut the Lion lead to 12.
On the ensuing New Orleans possession,
Diontae Champion's second chance bucket made it a 10-point game.
Despite key stops, the Privateers continued to split free throws, leaving the SLU lead at 10 with 3:48 to go following
Makur Puou's 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
With 2:11 remaining, Green drove to the hoop after Thibodeaux's steal for an and-one, making it a nine-point game.
Berzat's dove for a loose ball to regain possession for UNO.
Despite foul trouble, Thibodeaux played big with an and-one off the offensive board to make it 66-60 with 1:03 remaining.
The Privateers closed the gap but the Lions secured the victory in the first of two matchups 71-64.
NEXT UP
The Privateers host McNeese for Senior Day Saturday at 4:15 p.m.
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