After a win against Langston, the men’s basketball would drop the ball in the next two games against the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Southeast Missouri Redhawks. 

Last Tuesday, Southeastern traveled to the McCarthey Athletic Center to take on the number eight team, the Gonzaga Bulldogs. 

Southeastern would be the first to put points on the scoreboard when DeVonte Upson made the first basket. Upson would be quickly followed by the Bulldog Kyle Wiltjer making a three pointer bringing Gonzaga back to the lead, 3-2, at the 17:16 mark. 

Southeastern’s Joshua Filmore would answer Wiltjer by making a three pointer of his own bringing the score back in favor of Southeastern, 5-3.

Just over the 11 minute mark, Dylon Maggio also made a three pointer, giving Southeastern the largest lead of the game, 19-11.

Wiltjer would once again answer by making a layup at the 3:47 mark bringing the lead back in favor of Gonzaga, 28-27.

Upson would make a highlight-reel dunk off an alley -oop pass from Filmore with 2:43 left in the half bringing the score back in Southeastern’s favor, 29-28.

The Lions would gain a five lead momentum but in turn Gonzaga would bring the score back to only a one point difference before the halftime buzzer. 

At halftime, the score was 33-32. The Lions shot almost 52 percent prior to halftime and hit four-of-ten from the three point range. 

After the half, Southeastern would not fare well because the Bulldogs would make a 30-4 run opening in the second half as well as securing their fate against the Lions as they scored 21-0 over a ten minute period in the second half. 

The final buzzer blew as the game ended with a score of 57-76.

Four players from Southeastern were able to score in the double-digits. Filmore  pulled off 14 points, Zay Jackson and Upson scored 12 and Andrew Guillory scored 10 points. 

Upson also finished the game against the Bulldogs with a team-high of eight rebounds. 

The Lions would next travel to the Show Me Center to faceoff against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks for the fourth consecutive season. 

The Bulldogs gave  Southeastern a harder hit in this match as they would never be able to take the lead trailing by as much as 14 at their lowest point.

In the second half, the Lions would show signs of improvement. 

Southeastern would improve their shooting by twofold with making only 28.6 percent (8-of-28) in the first half but bring it up to 57.1 percent (12-of-21) in the second half. 

The Lions would give it everything they had until the end of the match with Filmore making a three pointer at the 3:29 mark and Jackson making a layup at the 1:43 mark. Unfortunately it was not enough to gain the momentum to turn the tables for a win. 

The match ended with a loss, 59-63. 

Daniel Grieves led the scoring for the Lions with 14 points while Jackson made 12 and Upson made 10. Onochie Ochie made a team-high of 10 rebounds which was one shy in tying a career best. 

The Lions shot 40.8 percent overall with 37.5 from the three point range. 

Southeastern was also able to convert 65 percent of free throw attempts.

The Lions are currently taking a break for final exams and will return to the court at Texas-El Paso for an 8 p.m. non-conference contest.

For more information about the men’s basketball team as well as their schedule for winter break, visit lionsports.net.