Cowboys Trounce Lions In Season Opener

Le'Bryan Nash scored 22 points, Phil Forte III had 19, and Leyton Hammonds added a career-high 16 as Oklahoma State beat Southeastern Louisiana, 83-55, on Friday night in the season opener for both teams. Hammonds and Forte III combined to hit 9 of 13 from 3-point range. Anthony Allen had eight points and 12 rebounds off the bench for OSU. Louisiana State transfer Anthony Hickey had seven assists for a Cowboy squad that led 35-33 at halftime, but outscored SLU 34-14 over the final 12 minutes.

Zay Jackson led SE Louisiana with 16 points. Devonte Upson had 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Lions, who out-rebounded OSU 40-38, hit 6 of 28 from 3-point range and 19 of 61 overall.

The Lions raced to a 17-9 lead six minutes into the contest, but a 3-pointer by Jeff Newberry put OSU up 21-19 with just under nine minutes remaining in the half. A Forte 3-point field goal gave the Cowboys their biggest lead at 30-21, but the visitors rallied and trailed only 35-33 at the break. Seven different Lions had at least one field goal and SE Louisiana out-rebounded OSU 20-17 in the opening 20 minutes.

Hammonds' fourth 3-pointer of the game pushed the Cowboy lead to 51-39 early in the second half. As a freshman a year ago, Hammonds, a 6-7 forward, had eight total 3-pointers.

A pair of Forte 3-pointers pushed the margin to 62-47 and SE Louisiana struggled down the stretch. The Lions finished with 21 turnovers.