While no classes were taking place during winter break, the men’s basketball team continued to battle their opponents on the court. 

Southeastern has played over six teams since they lost against the Redhawks before finals week. 

The first game to take place after finals was on Dec. 16 when the Lions battled the Miners at the University of Texas at El Paso. 

Southeastern would not fare so well in this game, letting the Miners take as much as a 24 point lead before ending the game with a final score 80-62.

Zay Jackson, who had to leave early in the first half due to an injury, made 26 points leading in offense while Joshua Filmore added 12, and Onochie Ochie made 10. 

The Lions then took on the Winthrop Eagles at the University Center and continued to stay undefeated playing with the home court advantage.  

The Eagles and Lions battled constantly to have their names on the leader board with the lead switching hands seven times in the first half. 

The Lions would gain momentum on the offense and hold a 44-32 lead at the half. 

Southeastern would go up by 19 in the second half but Winthrop cut the deficit ending with a score of 81-71.

Five players scored in the double digits for the Lions. Filmore and DeVonte Upson scored 15, Daniel Grieves and Ochie lent 14 and Jackson added 13 points of his own. 

Jackson was also able to make a career-high of seven assists. 

After playing the Eagles, Southeastern then traveled to Florida to put in two games before Christmas. 

On Monday, Dec. 22, the Lions played at Central Florida, and they played at South Florida on Tuesday. 

With the start of the first game on the road, Southeastern’s top scorer, Jackson, was unable to lend his hand in scoring due to an injury. Cedric Jenkins stepped up, making a career best by scoring a season-high of 22 points. 

Even with Jenkins picking up some of the slack of the loss of Jackson, the Lion’s still ended the game short with a score of 70-65. 

With the match against Central Florida not taking place until nighttime, Southeastern had to turn around right after their loss and travel to Tampa, Fla. for a noon face-off against South Florida. 

After facing a loss the night before to Central Florida, Southeastern would once again face defeat at the Sun Dome falling 78-63 to the Bulls. 

With the Lion’s playing yet another game without Jackson, the defense stepped up their game, but it was not enough to pull out a win before the final buzzer blew. 

Upson was able to grab a game-high of nine rebounds for this game and Ochie and Filmore led the Lions with 16 points each. 

After Christmas, the Lions returned home to host the Dillard Bleu Devils in an exhibition win, 88-47.

Upson shot 25 seconds into the game off an assist by Jenkins and a steal by Filmore.

The Lions did not lose momentum as they continued to push a 26 lead in the first half and score as high as 48 points two times in the second against the Bleu Devils. 

After this win, Southeastern traveled to Nacogdoches, Texas to battle against the defending Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin. 

Stephen F. Austin was successful in defending their home court, defeating the Lions 81-66.

After losing against the reigning Southland Conference champion, the Lions came home to host back to back games for the first time of the season. 

To see how Southeastern did in their last four matches of the season, visit lionsports.net.