In the second round of the Jersey Mike’s Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, No. 7 seed UNO beat No. 3 seed Southeastern by a score of 82-78. SLU ends its season with an 18-14 overall record (12-6 SLC) and a very impressive 10-4 home record.
Privateers guard Jordan Johnson led all scorers with 32 points and made 11-12 (91.6%) free throws.
As for Southeastern, they saw five guys reach double-figures: Boogie Anderson (18), Brody Rowbury (13), Nick Caldwell (13), Roger McFarlane (10) and Roscoe Eastmond (10).
The Privateers won the game in the trenches as they outscored SLU 48-32 in the paint and outmuscled the Lions on the glass 42-33. Out of their 42 rebounds, UNO pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, which generated 15 second-chance points for the ball club.
To start the game, the Green and Gold jumped out to a 20-9 lead after a made three by Caldwell. UNO went on an 11-0 run in two minutes to get back into the ballgame.
From then on out, it was a back-and-forth battle between the Southland rivals. The Privateers closed the first half with a five-point lead over the Lions.
With 6:24 remaining in the game, UNO extended their 5-point lead to 12 points after a made three by Johnson. After a late run by the Lions, guard Matthew Strange brought Southeastern within three points after a four-point play with 14 seconds to play.
Following a missed free throw by the Privateers, Anderson made a lay-up to make the score 80-78 with six seconds left in the game.
Despite SLU’s late-game efforts, they could not overcome the 12-point deficit and UNO advanced to the semifinals of the Southland Tournament.
As a team, Southeastern shot a respectable 45.6% from the field and 42.1% from three. They also generated 19 points from 16 turnovers and outscored UNO’s bench 22-16.
Despite the sour ending to the season, the Green and Gold can still hang their hats on a lucrative campaign. From Jan. 5 – Feb. 2, SLU went 8-1 during that time frame with a +5.7 point differential.
All in all, Southeastern will look to regroup for the 2023-2024 season.
As for women’s basketball, the Lady Lions will start their title quest tomorrow at 11 a.m. Tune into ESPN+ to catch the game live.
