Southeastern’s men’s basketball started its Texas road trip with a 74-64 loss to the Lamar Cardinals on Saturday, Jan. 27, then rebounded with an 80-58 win against Houston Christian University on Monday, Jan. 29.
After the expedition, the Green and Gold stand at 8-13 on the season with a 3-5 Southland Conference record. The Lions are in a three-way tie with HCU and Northwestern State for fourth place in the SLC standings.
The Cardinals made a flurry of threes in the first half against SLU; they buried seven out of 11 triples and ended the game with 11 total. Guard Chris Pyror torched the Lions with 17 points and five made threes.
Despite the eruption of triples from Lamar, the game was tied at 34 apiece heading into halftime after a massive 16-5 run from Southeastern.
Cardinals’ guard Ja’Sean Jackson hit a three to give LU a 29-18 lead with 6:44 left to play. Graduate guard Alec Woodard responded with a three of his own to spark the outburst.
Lamar proceeded to outscore SLU 40-30 in the second half to claim victory, holding Southeastern to a dreadful 28.1% shooting. Junior guard Roger McFarlane did collect a double-double for the Green and Gold with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
McFarlane starred again with the win over HCU; the Florida native scored 20 points with seven boards and two steals. Senior guard/forward Nick Caldwell led the Lions in scoring with a season-high 26 points and shot 4-4 from behind the arc.
Caldwell came just two points shy of tying his career-high in points. The Prairieville native scored 28 points against the University of New Orleans on Jan. 26 last year in the Pride Roofing University Center.
Senior guard Roscoe Eastmond added a double-double with 13 points and 12 dimes. Eastmond fell one assist short of tying his career-high of 13 assists, which he set earlier this season against Loyola on Dec. 30, 2023.
To start, it was a back-and-forth game between the two Southland rivals. Both teams exchanged jumpers alike. HCU took a five-point advantage at 14-9 midway through the first period after a made three-pointer from guard Dominic Capriotti.
SLU quickly regained the lead after Caldwell made his first three of the game to make the score 18-17. The Green and Gold never looked back and maintained their lead for the rest of the half.
Sophomore forward Brock Rowbury joined in on the fun by scoring seven out of his 12 points in the first period and ended the game with career-high 13 rebounds.
The second half saw more dominance from Southeastern as they outscored Houston Christian 43-29 and shot 66.7% in the second half while holding the Huskies to 40% shooting and an appalling 1-10 from behind the arc.
The Lions will return to the PRUC on Saturday, Feb. 3, to battle the McNeese Cowboys (19-2, 8-0 SLC).
MCN has the longest winning streak in the nation, with 14 straight wins. The Cowboys are also in sole possession of the No. 1 seed in the SLC with a perfect 8-0 conference record.
Tune in on ESPN+ to watch the match live, and visit The Lion’s Roar for more coverage and information on Lions basketball.
