The men’s basketball team clinched a spot in the Southland Conference postseason tournament Saturday, despite falling to Southeastern Louisiana 75-66.

After the dismissal of juniors B.J. Maxwell and Jalone Friday, junior guard Trey Lenox and sophomore center Kolton Kohl moved into the starting lineup.

Seniors Jaren Lewis, forward, and Jaylen Franklin, guard, and junior guard Payten Ricks remained in the starting lineup. Senior forward Hayden Farquhar passed his season-high in minutes played with 27 in the game. He also was the leading scorer for the Wildcats with 16 points.

ACU led once in the entire game which came in the first half. The Wildcats were down 19-9 after six minutes of play but came back with a 13-2 run to take the lead.

The Lions jumped ahead quickly, however, and were up by 12 (37-25) with three minutes left in the half. ACU couldn’t recover as the men were only able to bring the deficit within seven twice in the second half.

Head coach Joe Golding said his team lacked competitive defense, which ultimately lost the game.

“We held the last two teams we played to 48 points and gave up 42 points in the first half,” Golding said. “We just couldn’t get a stop in the first half, so defensively we weren’t as sharp as we’ve been.”

With the loss, the men now fall to 21-6 overall and 10-4 in conference. They also slip to third in the conference while New Orleans moves to second.

Meanwhile, the Lions remain in fourth but improve to 14-14 overall and 10-5 in conference.

Up next, the Wildcats will have a two-game road trip this week as they face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday and Central Arkansas Saturday. Both games will air on 98.1 FM.