NEW ORLEANS – Coach
Mark Slessinger reached a milestone,
Derek St. Hilaire poured in 27 points and the New Orleans Privateers moved their conference record to 9-1 on the season with an 88-75 win over the McNeese Cowboys on Saturday at the Lakefront Arena.
MILESTONE REACHED
Coach Sless won his 147
th game as head coach on the Lakefront. The win moved him past Ron Greene as the program's winningest coach in school history.
HOW IT HAPPENED
On Senior Night, the Privateers raced out of the gates as they spurted to a 17-6 lead through the first nine minutes of the opening 20. New Orleans led by as many as 21 points in the first half and were in control through the opening stages.
The Privateers shot 50 percent in the first half while they limited the Cowboys to just 33.3 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes of play. New Orleans went to the halftime locker room with a 44-27 advantage.
The second half saw the game start to tighten up in the latter stages. A 10-1 run that started just outside the eight-minute mark of the second half saw the Privateers' lead get cut to single digits at 71-62.
However, New Orleans responded with a 6-0 spurt as three different Privateers scored in that stretch. The lead lengthened back out to 15 and the Cowboys did not get closer than within 11 points by the end of the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
St. Hilaire added five assists, four rebounds and two steals to his 27-point output.
Tyson Jackson finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
Troy Green added 11 points in 31 minutes.
Simeon Kirkland,
Daniel Sackey,
Rodney Carson Jr. and
D'Ante Bell combined for 29 points.
NEXT UP
The Privateers will head to Hammond to face Southeastern on Thursday, Feb. 24. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@UNOPrivateers on Twitter,
@PrivateersMBB on Instagram, like
/PrivateersMBB on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
