The Lions basketball team (7-10, 1-4) had a rough week both on the road and at home; failing to catch up in the Southland Conference (SLC) against the McNeese Cowboys last Wednesday, 61-47, and suffering an agonizingly close defeat against Nicholls State Colonels on Saturday, 55-53.
Against McNeese (7-9, 3-1 ), Patrick Richard scored a game-high 17 points and Jeremie Mitchell scored six points in a 17-2 run in the first half as McNeese State built a 21-point lead and held to defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 61-47, in a Southland Conference game Wednesday at Burton Coliseum.
The Lion’s defeat on Jan. 21 was embittered by a lost chance at overtime against Nicholls (5-13, 1-5 SLC), as sophomore guard Jeremy Campbell missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Junior forward Roosevelt Johnson grabbed the rebound and the officials waved off his potential game-tying bucket after a review, giving victory to Nicholls. However, despite the closeness of the game, head coach Jim Yarbrough was not happy with the team’s performance at all. After the game, he didn’t sugar coat how he felt.
“We’re just a terrible basketball team right now,” said Yarbrough. We can’t make good decisions down the stretch, can’t stay organized defensively and I feel really bad for the seniors Deshawn [Patterson] and Brandon [Fortenberry]. The guys are letting them down big time.”
Yarborough’s dismay was worsened by the fact that Nicholls has performed poorly this season and by the fact that the Lion’s provided their first SLC win.
Both teams battled through 10 ties and seven lead changes in the game with Southeastern taking the biggest lead of the game (six points) on Johnson’s jumper in the lane that gave the Lions a 32-26 lead with 14:52 remaining.
Offensively, Campbell led the Lions with 16 points, while junior guard Darren Populist and senior center Elgin Bailey added nine points each. Patterson tied a career-high with 10 rebounds for the Lions, who held a 32-29 advantage on the boards and forced 14 turnovers
The Lion’s will face their league rival Central Arkansas in the annual “Jam the Jungle” contest at 7 p.m. on Wednesday Tickets are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or on-line at www.lionsports.net.