Southeast men snare victory at Las Vegas Invite

Southeast Missouri State acting coach Zac Roman anticipated a tight game in Friday's rematch with Longwood at the Las Vegas Invitational.

The Redhawks men's basketball team beat Longwood by four points on a neutral floor last year, and the Lancers wanted revenge.

Roman got what he expected, but came away able to smile about it.

The Redhawks picked up their first victory of the season against a Division I opponent, defeating Longwood 81-77.

Southeast improved to 2-3 and will play Oakland (Mich.) at 4 p.m. today in the tournament's fifth-place game.

Oakland (2-4) defeated Delaware State 75-70 in the other fifth-place semifinal.

Roman was pleased with the way the Redhawks handled things late in Friday's game, after Longwood (3-4) rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to tie the contest.

"I knew they were going to make a run at the end," Roman said. "I wasn't sure how we were going to respond. These guys grew a lot. They played as a team."

The Lancers, a second-year Division I program from Virginia, pulled into a 69-69 tie with just under four minutes remaining.

Sophomore forward Jajuan Maxwell's follow shot with about three minutes left put Southeast back on top for good, 71-69.

After the teams exchanged empty possessions, junior wing Johnny Hill got a three-point play off a follow shot with under two minutes left to make it 74-69.

Longwood would not go away, and three times pulled to within two points, including 79-77.

But Southeast answered every Longwood flurry and iced the victory by making 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute. Junior point guard Bijon Jones nailed two foul shots with 9 seconds left to close out the scoring.

Earlier, senior forward Jaycen Herring hit two free throws with 22 seconds left to put Southeast up 79-75.

"Everybody stepped up and made big plays," Roman said.

Junior forward Calvin Williams had a huge performance for the Redhawks, scoring a career-high 22 points and pulling down 11 rebounds for his fifth career double-double and first of the season. He also blocked three shots.

"Calvin was amazing," Roman said. "He really played within himself and they didn't have an answer for him down low."

Senior guard Kenard Moore bounced back from a poor shooting night at Iowa on Tuesday with 18 points.

Moore, who missed all seven of his 3-point attempts at Iowa, made his first three 3-pointers Friday and finished 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.

Hill had a strong game with 11 points, while Herring also scored 11 points.

"Johnny had a huge put-back," Roman said. "He just never quit fighting."

Maxwell was solid as he tied Williams with a game-high 11 rebounds and added eight points.

Jones also had an impressive performance with seven points and six assists against just one turnover while playing a team-high 39 minutes.

"Bijon had a great game. He was really solid," Roman said.

After shooting 22.4 percent at Iowa -- and missing all 11 of its 3-pointers -- Southeast shot 50 percent Friday and hit 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.

Southeast limited Longwood to 39.7 percent shooting, but the Redhawks were hurt by 20 turnovers.

Longwood started strong by scoring the first six points and later led 9-2.

The Redhawks went ahead 16-15 and never trailed again.

Southeast closed out the first half with six straight points to lead 45-36.

The Redhawks scored the first five points of the second half to go up 50-36 and threaten a blowout.

That didn't happen as Longwood rallied, but Roman wasn't about to quibble.

"It's our first win against a Division I team, and now we've got a chance to go get another one [today]," Roman said. "I think this is a huge step forward for our program."