SLU Denies UNO a Tourney Bye

Playing its final home game in silver and blue, the New Orleans Privateers laid an egg at Lakefront Arena, falling to Southeastern Louisiana 82-78.

Only needing a win to secure a bye in the upcoming Southland Conference tournament, the Privateers (14-17, 12-10) were outhustled throughout the first half, falling behind 40-32. While New Orleans came out of the locker room more energized, they could never pull away from the last-place Lions, who surged ahead in the final two minutes to steal a win.

Jay Buckley, who was an all-conference guard for SLU last season, scored 28 points and dished 13 assists against his former team to lead the Privateers. Coleton Benson added 21 despite struggling again from the field.

UNO will play in Lake Charles next week in the first round of the league tournament.

Tough Day on the Lakefront

A day of struggles for UNO concluded with a men's basketball loss at the hands of McNeese State, 66-63.

New Orleans (14-16, 12-9) appeared ready to go but just could not keep pace with the visiting Cowboys early. In particular, they could not contain McNeese's Larry Johnson, who led all scorers with 16  points in the first half. He would only score 1 in the second half, however, as the Privateers rallied.

UNO hung around and hung around and finally overtook McNeese in the stretch run, taking a 56-52 lead on a Kedrick Osby three. UNO led 63-60 with just a minute left, but the Cowboys scored the final six points of the game, including a Tyshawn Archie leaner to put McNeese up with 2.6 seconds left.

Osby led New Orleans with 16 points. Coleton Benson was the only other Privateer in double digits, but he struggled terribly from the field, shooting just 3-for-14 and 0-for-5 from deep. UNO as a team shot just 3-for-21 from three. McNeese was not much better at 4-for-22.

UNO will need to defeat Southeastern Louisiana on Monday night on the lakefront in order to secure a single bye in the upcoming Southland Conference Tournament in Lake Charles.

Earlier in the day, the women's basketball team fell to McNeese despite Lauren Banks' 20 points. And before that, Stephen F. Austin's baseball team defeated UNO 3-1 at Maestri Field to drop the Privateers to 0-2 on the young Southland season.

Privateers Get Stunner at SFA

New Orleans broke Stephen F. Austin's 13-game winning streak, pulling a 77-73 upset in Nacogdoches on Monday night.

Led by Coleton Benson's 30-point night as well as M.J. Thomas' gutty 18-point, 10-rebound effort, UNO (14-15, 12-8) clinched a winning record in the Southland and bolstered their chances of securing a single bye in the SLC Tournament.

The Privateers jumped out to a 14-4 lead and maintained their edge throughout the first half, leading 31-23 at the break. Like they did in their five-point win at Lakefront Arena earlier this season, SFA came out of the locker room strong, surging ahead briefly before New Orleans' poise helped them regain the lead, which grew as large as 58-45 before a late Lumberjacks surge.

At 69-67, the Privateers missed two shots, but Panagiotis Pagonis rebounded both of them to keep the possession alive, then converted two free throws to extend the lead and help secure the win.

T.J. Cope added 11 points for New Orleans, and Jay Buckley struggled with his shot but contributed 11 assists.

UNO will return home with confidence to face McNeese on Saturday.

UNO Beats Corpus Christi in Slugfest

In a brutally physical contest that saw 66 fouls and 93 combined free throws, the Privateers outlasted Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 84-78 in overtime.

New Orleans (11-14, 9-7), which led 35-30 at the break, did not match the Islanders' increased intensity coming out of the halftime locker room. TAMU-CC's 18-3 run turned that five-point deficit into a 48-38 lead, and the Privateers spent the rest of the night trying to catch up, finally succeeding near the end of regulation on a Jay Buckley fast break layup.

In overtime, Coleton Benson drained a three to put UNO up, and they never relinquished that lead, hanging on with a flurry of free throws to secure the win.

The Privateers survived 22 turnovers, though they forced 19, many of them during their late surge to take control of the game in the nick of time. Buckley led the way with 22 points, while Benson added 18 and T.J. Cope 16.

New Orleans will hit the road for four straight beginning on Saturday at Houston Christian.

UTRGV Blitzes UNO

Seeking revenge for a 16-point loss to the Privateers in Texas on December 29, UT-Rio Grande Valley mauled New Orleans at Lakefront Arena on Saturday, 95-76.

The Vaqueros made 13 three-pointers and outrebounded the Bucs by a whopping 42-27 en route to an easy victory in a key matchup between contenders for the Southland tournament single bye. They dominated from start to finish and were never seriously threatened, dropping UNO to 8-7 in the conference and 10-14 overall.

The Privateer attack, such as it was, was led by Jay Buckley with 25 points. Coleton Benson and T.J. Cope added 11 each.

New Orleans will stay home and host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Monday night before embarking on a four-game road trip.