New Orleans heads to Southland quarters with 83-76 win

Mar 8, 2018, 01:54 am

KATY, Texas -- Damion Rosser scored 17 points with seven rebounds, Ezekiel Charles added 15 points with three 3-pointers and seven boards, and New Orleans beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 78-73 in Wednesday night's Southland Conference Tournament opener.

New Orleans faces No. 4 seed Sam Houston State in Thursday's quarterfinal.

Freshman Lamont Berzat scored all 11 of his points in the second half, including two free throws with 14.3 seconds to go, and added eight assists for the fifth-seeded Privateers (15-15). Scott Plaisance added 10 points.

New Orleans turned it over on a full-court pass with 54.8 seconds to go but the Islanders couldn't capitalize, missing a 3-pointer and a putback at the other end. Plaisance made two free throws with 41.1 seconds left to extend New Orleans' lead to 80-73.

The Privateers turned it over 21 times, but shot 57.1 percent from the field and led 43-29 at halftime.

Joseph Kilgore scored 29 points, Kareem South added 14 and Myles Smith 13 for the eighth-seeded Islanders (11-18).