KATY, Texas – New Orleans and Southeastern played a fun and intense game on Friday in what proved to be the rubber match between the teams this season, and with a spot in the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship game on the line, time — and the scoreboard — favored the Lions.
Second-seeded Southeastern got a huge contribution from its bench on the way to a hard-fought 74-65 win over the third-seed Privateers at Leonard E. Merrell Center, putting them in the title game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Saturday at 8:30 p.m. CT
“They gave us everything they got,” said Lions coach David Kiefer, the Southland Conference Coach of the Year.
Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year Jalyn Hinton gave UNO (18-13) everything he had, and then some. The senior rose to the occasion, putting up 16 points and 13 rebounds while adding seven of the Lions’ nine blocked shots.
“(I wanted to) affect the game,” said Hinton, whose dunk with 1:12 left all but assured the win for Southeastern. “Just do what I do all year, just clamp, play defense, be that guy on the floor, be that glue guy. That’s what I try to do for the team.”
Hinton’s intimidating presence was a deterrent to UNO, which shot just 34.6 percent from the field. The Privateers, not known for its three-point shooting, continued to attack the basket all night but when Hinton wasn’t blocking shots, he kept them honest in the paint.
Both teams played at an up-tempo pace in a first half that saw neither take more than a five-point lead before Southeastern outscored UNO 7-0 over the final 2:04 to take a 39-32 edge going into intermission.
Joe Kasperzyk came up huge all night for the Lions, scoring 19 points and adding seven assists in 28 minutes off the bench. He and Roger McFarlane (13 points, nine boards) were crucial to Southeastern’s win as they combined for 32 of the team’s 35 points from its reserves.
“It’s a will to win,” said Kasperzyk, who filled in for second team All-SLC guard Keon Clergeot, who got into early foul trouble. “I came off with a lot of energy looking to make the right decisions.”
Southeastern also did a solid job in protecting the basketball, turning it over just three times.
UNO came out of the locker room with a 6-0 run in the first 2:08 of the second half, closing to within one following a Simeon Kirkland layup. The Privateers took the lead at 45-43 after a steal from All-Southland member Derek St. Hilaire led to a layup from Green with 14:51 to go, marking the seventh time the lead changed hands.
St.Hilaire turned his next steal into a basket to put UNO up 49-46 at the 13:59 mark as the Privateers kept the Lions under 40 percent shooting in the first eight minutes of the second half.
Southeastern’s defense took its turn to be the bully, holding the Privateers scoreless for nearly three minutes while holding them to 1-for-7 shooting in that span. While the defense clamped down, the offense scored on four of five possessions to take a 55-53 lead after first team All-Conference forward Gus Okafor’s basket with 8:44 left.
Each team continued to trade baskets as the game reached its final moments, with neither taking more than a three-point lead before Kasperzyk’s driving layup put the Lions up 64-59 with 4:41 on the clock.
Green hit three of four free throws that moved UNO back within 66-64 with 2:06 to go, yet the Lions turned again to Kasperzyk, who again delivered another layup to extend Southeastern to 68-64 with 1:50 remaining. After St. Hilaire went 1-for-2 from the line, Hinton’s dunk was followed by a layup from McFarlane to give the Lions a 72-65 cushion with :28.4 remaining.
“They played a fantastic game,” said Privateers head coach Mark Slessinger, whose team will look to receive a tournament invite later this weekend. “Unfortunately for us, this portion of our season ended, and while we couldn’t be more disappointed, I couldn’t be more proud of this team and the journey that we went on this season.”
{Courtesy: release from the Southland Conference}