BOX SCORE | PHOTOS (SOUTHLAND) | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
LAKE CHARLES – The University of New Orleans (15-17, 12-11 Southland) came out on fire in the second half, scoring 20 of the half's first 24 points to pull away from the HCU Huskies (12-20, 8-14 Southland) 73-60 in the opening game of the Southland Conference Tournament.
During the opening eight minutes of the second half, UNO's lead swelled from just a single point to 15 after
Jakevion Buckley sank a pair of free throws with 11:50 to go. Buckley knocked down a 3-pointer to open the second-half scoring for the Privateers before
Coleton Benson's free-throw line jumper opened the floodgates on HCU.
During the stretch, the Privateers turned up the defensive pressure, causing HCU to miss its first eight shots of the half and turn the ball over five times.
Buckley pulled down a rebound and found
Churchill Abass going coast-to-coast for a two-handed dunk, putting the exclamation point on the game for New Orleans with 7:50 to play. HCU never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
MJ Thomas recorded his 12th career double-double (six this season, six last season) after pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds and scoring 10 points. The sophomore also had a pair of blocks Sunday evening.
Benson and Buckley both scored 14 points after being named second-team All-Southland selections earlier this week. Benson made five of his 10 field goal attempts, including a pair from beyond the arc. Buckley added six assists and now has 176 this season — two shy of the school record for assists in a season.
Kedrick Osby's second trip to Townsley Law Arena went better than his first. After finishing just 1-of-5 from the field against McNeese in January, the Moss Point native finished with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with four rebounds.
UNO outscored HCU 11-0 on second-chance points, holding the Huskies to just three offensive rebounds. Overall, the Privateers dominated the glass with a 43-27 advantage. New Orleans' 16-rebound advantage matched its effort against East Texas A&M in January for its second-best rebounding margin this season.
D'Aundre Samuels was a one-man show in the first half for the Huskies, scoring 15 of his 20 points in the opening frame. He led the Huskies in scoring and had four rebounds. Demarco Bethea scored 11 points and led HCU in rebounding with six. Ryan Bartley was the only other Husky in double figures with 13 points.
New Orleans and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders will meet Monday evening at 5 p.m. for the right to face Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks men's basketball in the semifinals Tuesday. The game will air live on ESPN+ as well as The Ticket 106.7 FM.
BLUES ON TUES. NEWSLETTER
To keep up with all athletics news at the University of New Orleans, subscribe
here for our weekly newsletter.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow
@UNOPrivateers on Twitter,
@PrivateersMBB on Instagram, like
/PrivateersMBB on Facebook and subscribe to the
PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.
