Lions returned to University Center on Thursday, Feb. 27 to face off against Northwestern State University’s Demons. Thursday night’s game was titled, ‘Jam the Jungle: Gold Out the UC‘ and the final score was 83-88.
Although the Lions loss against the Demons, senior guard Dre Evans took note on some things that he could have done to help the team, in order for a win.
“First, I would like to give glory to my Lord savior, Jesus Christ. We could have done better by transitioning defense,” said Evans. “And I could have done a better job by stopping the ball.”
Southeastern (11-15, 6-9 SLC) led for most of the first half while trailing Northwestern (13-13, 9-6 SLC) with a score of 38-35 at halftime. In the second half, the Demons lead was expanded to 17 with only 10:36 remaining. Score was changed to 68-51, by consecutive baskets by Evans with only 8:36 remaining. Numerous three pointers were made by junior guard Julian Chiera, Evans and freshman guard Joshua Filmore. With a deficit being cut to 70-66, the Lions struggled to get back scoring. Behind the arc, Evans managed a 6-of-11 aim, also with a career high of 26 points. In the final four minutes of playtime, the Lions managed a 17-point deficit. A 17-3 run was gained by the Lions in the final 6:44 of the game.
Head Coach Yarbrough noticed some strengths early on in the beginning, but he also took note of some needed improvements.
“Well we definitely did an amazing job offensively and although we struggled with some shooting, I felt as if we could’ve done a lot more things better,” said Yarbrough. “Such as working on defense and accurate shooting.”
Overall, Lions shot with better than 40 percent over the Demons.
Lions were led by Evans with an all-time career high of 26 points, whilst Chiera managed a career best of 16 points and junior forward/center Devonte Upson added 13 points along with a game high of six rebounds for the team.
Yarbrough and the team has already strategized a plan for Saturday’s game against Stephen F. Austin.
“Stephen F. Austin is a real great team, they scored a hundred points and last night; but I just want the players to go out with a clear mind,” said Yarbrough. “We plan to defend the ball, play great offense as well as defense and just mainly focus on playing together as a team.”
On Saturday, March 1 the Lions will return to University Center. Tip-off will begin at 4:30 p.m. The game on Saturday will be noted as Senior Day in honor of seniors Antonnio Benton, Dre Evans, Jeremy Campbell and Jeffrey Ricard and Take a Kid to the Game Day. Students and fan can catch live footage from the game on KSLU 90.9 FM, online or via TuneIn Radio Smartphone App.
More information regarding the Lions can be found at www.lionsports.net.