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The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team handed out 35 assists, second most in program history, on 46 field goals in a 121-79 win Monday night over Ecclesia College in the University Center.

The Lions (3-2) also drilled 18 three-pointers (18-for-30) led by Ryan Burkhardt and Matthew Strange with four each. The 18 long-range connections is tied for second all-time in the program’s history. SLU broke the all-time record with 19 just two weeks ago in a 128-58 win over Southeastern Baptist at home.

Southeastern was on fire in the first 20 minutes as they shot 71 percent from the field (25-35) to explode to a 71-44 halftime lead. The Lions were 12-for-16 (75 percent) from long range in the first half.

The onslaught continued in the second half as SLU stretched their lead to as much as 50, 111-61, with 7:03 to go as the Lions cruised to their third straight win at home this year.

“I’m really proud of our unselfishness tonight,” said SLU men’s head basketball coach David Kiefer. “That’s what we’ve been preaching all year and to have that many assists is remarkable for our team to constantly share the ball and not care who gets credit for making the shot. And then obviously making 18 threes is tremendous. But credit to the guys because they have been putting a lot of extra time in the gym.”

On top of 18 three pointers and 35 assists, the Lions also had seven players score in double figures led by Gus Okafor with 20 points on 7-for-7 shooting (3-for-3 from three-point range). Antonio Gordon added 18 points while Strange and Burkhardt each added 14. Jalyn Hinton, Joe Kasperzyk and Roger McFarlane also got in on the action scoring 12 points each.

The Lions finished the game 46-for-68 from the field for 67 percent, fourth best for a single in the program’s history.

Next up, the Lions will get set for a weekend trip to Fort Myers, Florida when they play in the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Invitational.

SLU will take on Purdue Fort Wayne (2-1) out of the Horizon League Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. CT. Saturday, the Lions will face host team Florida Gulf Coast from the Atlantic Sun Conference (1-2) at 6 p.m. CT before wrapping up the weekend Sunday against Western Michigan (1-2) from the Mid-American Conference at 12:30 p.m. CT.

Fans can watch all three games game on ESPN+ with links to video and stats available on the Southeastern men’s basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB

Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners.  All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

TICKETS

For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.