NEW ORLEANS – Diontae Champion scored a career-high 16 points off the bench and the junior's layup with 2:41 remaining made it a one-point game but Southeastern Louisiana University (20-10, 14-3 Southland) connected on its limited free throws to defeat the University of New Orleans (14-15, 11-7 Southland) 68-64 Wednesday evening at Lakefront Arena.
Champion finished 6-of-11 with three rebounds,
Ezekiel Charles added 12 points and
Troy Green concluded 4-of-7 with 11 points and two assists.
FIRST HALF
Trailing 20-8 early in the period, the Privateers scored eight unanswered to make it a four-point ballgame, beginning with
Matthew Jiles' tip-in off a miss. Champion followed with a triple and Charles went flying for a dunk and the foul.
Lamont Berzat's three with 5:20 remaining cut the deficit to one but the Lions went on a mini-run to add a cushion, taking a 38-31 lead into the halftime break.
Joshua Filmore provided most of the offense for Southeastern, going 7-of-9 overall and 5-of-7 from three-point range for 19 points. As a unit, the Lions shot 51.5 percent from the floor. Eddy Polanco led all players with four assists.
The Privateers were led by Charles and Champion's seven points apiece.
Makur Puou picked up four rebounds and Charles dished out two assists.
SECOND HALF
The Lions extended their lead to 16 minutes into the second half but the resilient Silver and Blue continued to claw its way back into the game, spearheaded by an 8-0 run to cut the SLU lead to eight with 13:41 to go after back-to-back and-ones by Green and Champion.
Moments later, Berzat's second three of the game made it 55-49 Southeastern and Green and Champion followed a Lions basket with four consecutive free throws and a Troy layup to condense the SLU lead to one possession. The run was 11-2 in a two-minute window.
Damion Rosser responded to Marlain Veal's layup with a bucket of his own and Puou drained both from the FT line to tie the game at 59 with 5:23 remaining, completing the comeback from a once 17-point deficit.
Southeastern regained the lead but Charles answered with a three at the 3:17 mark for a one-point game and the clubs traded points before Veal's free throw with 19 ticks remaining made it 68-64 Lions.
The Lions escaped New Orleans with the four-point victory Wednesday.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will wait to see who they face in the opening round of the 2018 Southland Conference Tournament. With a bye on Saturday, we will release the matchup late Saturday and more information on game time.
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