HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from Lamar University late for a 42-12 victory Saturday evening at Strawberry Stadium. The Cardinals end the season with a 2-4 (.333) record well ahead of where the preseason prognosticators picked LU who entered the year with 51 freshmen.
 
The Lions' late run allowed them to pull away late in a game that was only a nine-point difference at halftime. Southeastern finished the game with 464 yards of total offense but did the majority of their damage in the second half. Big Red ended the night with 296 yards, including 179 on the ground.
 
Junior quarterback Jalen Dummett completed 10-of-15 (.667) passes for 111 yards but was also picked off twice in the game. Dummett also led LU with 16 carries for 67 yards, while freshman Jaylon Jackson carried the ball 12 times for 69 yards.
 
The reigning Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week led LU with nine tackles, while freshman Caimyn Layne added three tackles, including a sack in the end zone for a safety. Andre Mulinax and Keshawn Young each picked off a passes for the Red and White.
 
Southeastern scored on its opening possession – a nine-play, 45-yard drive that took 4:01 off the clock. The Lions moved the ball down to the LU one, but it took three plays for the home team to push the ball over the goal line.
 
After forcing LU to punt the ball away, the defense came up with a momentum changing play as freshman Caimyn Layne dropped Cole Kelly in the end zone for the safety. The offense took advantage of the new possession by driving ball down the field for a touchdown. Nathan Gaskamp carried the ball over the goal line for the score. The one-yard TD plunge was set up by a 27-yard run from Dummett on 3^rd-and-11. The 10-play, 50-yard drive took 4:59 off the clock.
 
Unfortunately, the Lions answered the score 47 seconds later with 47-yard pass from Kelly to Tim Wilson. Moments later, Southeastern Louisiana's defense got the ball back picking off a Dummett pass, but Keshawn Young responded on the very next play by intercepting Kelly. The Cardinals took advantage of the Southeastern miscue by setting up a Bailey Giffen 31-yard field goal, 14-12.
 
The Lions were able to push their lead to nine points on the ensuing possession with an eight-play, 85-yard drive that ended with a Kelly one-yard rush for the score. SLU got the ball back late in the half and was trying to move the ball down the field for a late score but that was thwarted by an Andre Mulinax interception with four seconds remaining before halftime.
 
The Cardinals racked up 176 yards of total offense in the opening 30 minutes and held the ball for nearly 20 minutes. LU held the ball nearly 10 more than Southeastern in the first half. The Lions recorded 211 yards of offense during the first 30 minutes of play.
 
The Lions tacked on two scores in the third quarter to build a 23-point lead heading into the fourth. SLU scored on their opening possession of the second half and added another score with 1:18 left in the third. Southeastern tacked on one final score with less than four minutes remaining in the game for the final score.