Last SLU regular-season game versus Northwestern finalizes Southland basketball seedings

David Zieske, Staff Reporter|March 9, 2022

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Courtesy of Sports Information

The Southeastern men’s and women’s basketball teams traveled to Northwestern State to take on the Demons in the final game of the regular season on March 5. 

The men won their matchup 85-80; however, the women fell to the Demons 51-56. The men’s win solidified their No. 2 seed for the Southland Conference Tournament, while the Lady Lions clinched the No. 3 seed in their respective league. 

Despite the loss, the women’s team had some great performances by forward Caitlyn Williams, scoring 18 points, seven rebounds, with a 67 percent field goal percentage, and guard Chrissy Brown, with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lions. 

The defense also played very well, as the women had 11 steals and 24 defensive rebounds for the entire game, which would explain the low total scoring game. The Lions had a total of 40 rebounds, which helped significantly as SLU attempted to come back late game. 

The Lady Lions finish the season 14-10. In the conference tournament, they will play against either No. 6 seed Northwestern State again or No. 7 seed New Orleans in the semifinals on Friday, March 11. 

SLU’s men’s team had a different game outcome while being led by forward Jalyn Hinton, who scored 27 points, going 10-16 for field goals, as well as having 13 rebounds for the Saturday night game. 

The team used their physical playstyle to gain 26 points from free throws, also having 28 defensive rebounds for 40 in total. Hinton and guard/forward Gus Okafor assisted the defense with two steals each; guard Joe Kasperzyk had three steals and five assists for the Lions. 

Guard Keon Clergot scored 13 points, Okafor and Kasperzyk had 11 points each and guard Ryan Burkhardt put up 10 points, which rallied the team to defeat the Demons and lift the Lions to win the final regular-season game. 

Men’s basketball ended their season with a record of 18-13 and look to win the Southland Championship, where the Lions could be matched up against No. 3 seed New Orleans, No. 6 Northwestern State or No. 7 McNeese State on Friday, March 11 at Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.