HAMMOND, La. – After falling behind 7-0 early, Western Illinois put together a 20-3 run into the second half to take the lead Tuesday evening (Nov. 26), but Southeastern Louisiana responded with a run of its own to recapture the advantage, and hold off the Leathernecks for the 62-52 victory.

Western falls to 1-4 on the year while SE Louisiana improves to 3-2 overall this season.

“You know we are young, we are going to go through these pains,” said head coach Jim Molinari. “We've played four games on the road, but I thought this was one we could have gotten. I thought this was one where we had a chance. I thought we showed some huge character, but then we let it slip away.”

Garret Covington, who suffered an injury late in the game, led all scorers in the game with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including four three-pointers, and connecting on both free throw attempts. The Edwardsville native also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and had one assist.

Senior Michael Ochereobia made all six shots he took in the game, going 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line to finish with nine points. Ochereobia also pulled down six rebounds.

The Lions edged the Leathernecks in all shooting categories. SELU shot 44% from the floor, 35.7% from beyond the arc, and 52% from the free throw line, while WIU connected on 40.4% of its field goal tries, 26.7% of its three-point attempts, and 40% of its free throw attempts.

The Leathernecks did better the Lions in assists (12-10), steals (8-6), and turnovers (9-13), but where out-rebounded, 40-31.

Antonnio Benton and JaMichael Hawkins led SE Louisiana. Benton and Hawkins finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Benton also had a game-high 11 rebounds, an assist and a steal. Hawkins used five triples to accumulate his points, while grabbing four boards, dishing out three assists, and tallying two steals.

SELU opened the game on a 7-0 run to put the Leathernecks at a disadvantage early, and WIU trailed by as much as 13 points (24-11) with less than five minutes to play in the period. Western then went on a 12-1 run to conclude the first half and went to the locker room trailing by just two points, 25-23.

After shooting just 2-of-13 (15.4%) to open the contest, WIU finished the opening period 10-of-26 (38.5%) from the field. The Lions connected on 10-of-22 (45.5%) of their field goals in the first.

Early in the second the Leathernecks continued to outscore the Lions, eventually taking a four-point lead with under 16 minutes to play in the game. SELU would respond to Western's 20-3 run, however, with a 14-2 run during the next four minutes of play, giving the Lions an eight-point lead.

During the final 10 minutes of the game the Leathernecks would battle to within four points, but that was as close as WIU would get as the Lions left the court victorious.

The Leathernecks return to Macomb to continue their nonconference schedule versus Greenville on Saturday (Nov. 30) at 7 p.m.