Strong Defense Leads Men's Basketball Over SUNO

NEW ORLEANS (Nov. 14, 2023) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's basketball team beat Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) 82-69 on Tuesday for their second win of the season. The Saints improve to 2-3 overall while the Knights drop to 0-7.

Head Coach Chris Dial commented, "This is a tough place to play on the road, but our guys showed some toughness and resiliency to come away with a win. We are still cleaning things up, but we had good contributions from a handful of different guys tonight. We are looking forward to coming home and getting back to work in preparation for a very tough Texas Wesleyan University team on Saturday."

History

This was the first meeting between the two programs.

Basics

The Saints' defense stepped up in a win over the Knights on Tuesday night. OLLU forced 10 turnovers in the first half and grabbed nine offensive rebounds. Lonzo Rand had nine points and the Saints held the Knights to 25 percent shooting from three-point range. OLLU took a nine-point lead into halftime.

The Knights were able to tie the game six minutes into the second half, but the Saints pulled away minutes later and won by double digits. Five Saints players totaled double digit points. The Saints capitalized on turnovers with 21 points. SUNO struggled from the free-throw line at 46.2 percent shooting and shot under 30 percent in three-point opportunities.

Offensive/defensive standouts

Rand led the Saints with 17 points. Four Saints players had seven rebounds each. Rob Gil tallied nine assists for the Saints.

Devin Daniels led SUNO with 27 points. Jamal Gibson grabbed 15 rebounds and added 17 points for a double-double. Chaun Moore led the team with four assists.

Inside the box

OLLU combined for 29-of-66 shooting for 43.9 percent, 5-of-14 from three-point range for 35.7 percent and 19-of-26 from the free-throw line for 73.1 percent. SUNO shot 28-of-74 for 37.8 percent, 7-of-24 three pointers for 29.2 percent and 6-of-13 from the free-throw line for 46.2 percent.

The Saints grabbed 47 rebounds while SUNO collected 41. The Saints committed 17 turnovers and forced 20.

Up next

The Saints battle Texas Wesleyan University at home on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.