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HAMMOND, La. - After a slow start, Southeast Missouri (7-2) shot 57.7 percent from the field and rallied behind 16 second-half points from Tyler Stone to eke out a 74-73 come-from-behind win over Southeastern Louisiana (3-5) Saturday.

Southeast shot a season-low 38.7 percent from the field in the first half and overcame a 12-point deficit en route to its fifth-straight victory. The five-game winning streak is the Redhawks longest under head coach Dickey Nutt and longest in non-conference play since Southeast opened the 1999-2000 season at 5-0.

The Redhawks improved to 5-0 all-time against Southeastern, escaping with their third-consecutive victory over the Lions by three or less points.

"It was a hard-fought win. We didn't respond as well as we needed to during the entire game," said Nutt. "I didn't like the way we started, but we overcame a lot of adversity to get the win against a good Southeastern Louisiana team."

Stone was held to just four points on 1-of-5 shooting in the first half, but scored 16 points in a span of 8:31 to get Southeast the lead. He connected on 7-of-8 field goals, made two free throws and buried the jumper that gave the Redhawks a 59-57 edge with 11:29 remaining.

After Stone's spree, Southeast never trailed again even though it wasn't ahead by more than four points the rest of the way.

Antonnio Benton's jumper cut the Redhawks lead to 64-63 before Antonius Cleveland made three free throws to give Southeast a 67-63 cushion with 8:14 left.

Benton made it a one-point game again, this time when he nailed a three-pointer to dice Southeast's lead to 67-66 at the 6:42 mark.

Both teams went back-and-forth until the final 1:51 where things got real interesting.

Onochie Ochie's jumper pulled the Lions to within one before Lucas Nutt drove the lane and made a big shot to give Southeast a 74-71 lead with 1:20 left.

Benton, who rebounded a missed jumper by Dre Evans on Southeastern's next possession, threw down a dunk to quickly cut the lead to 74-73.

The Lions then regained possession off a missed shot by Stone. After a 30-second timeout, Benton launched a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 11 seconds left. Joshua Filmore rebounded Benton's miss and heaved a three from the same spot which came off the rim as the final buzzer sounded.

Southeast missed 10 of its first 14 shots of the game and  fell victim to a 17-4 run as the Lions built their double figure lead. Nino Johnson's layup tied the game at 17-17 with 8:39 left before Southeastern scored on five-straight possessions to build a 33-21 advantage. Jeffery Ricard's three-pointer capped the surge with a little under four minutes (3:51).
 
Moments after Benton's jumper gave the Lions a 35-23 lead, Southeast countered with a 9-0 jaunt to get to within three. The Redhawks scored four points at the free throw line and capitalized on a Jarekious Bradley three-pointer and Darrian Gray layup to make it a 35-32 game with 56 seconds.
 
Southeastern, however, responded with back-to-back baskets, including a breakaway layup by Ricard at the horn,  to take a 39-32 lead at the intermission.
 
The Redhawks were 12-of-31 from the field and made 2-of-7 (28.6 percent) from three-point range, while the Lions were 17-of-32 for 53.1 percent.

Stone and Bradley led Southeast with 20 points apiece.

Stone finished at 8-of-15 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line. He also had nine rebounds as he narrowly missed a double-double.

Bradley made 8-of-15 field goals and had a game-high 10 rebounds. It was Bradley's second double-double this season.

"Jarekious wants the ball when the game is on the line," said Nutt. "He had six of his rebounds in the second half."

Johnson followed with 10 points and six boards, posting his sixth-straight double-digit scoring effort. Additionally, he had one block and now stands with 199 in his career.

Benton, who had 12 points in the first half, led the Lions with a game-high 21 points.

Southeast made 12 of its first 14 shots in the second half, where it outscored Southeastern, 42-34. In addition, the Redhawks outrebounded the Lions, 39-36, and held a +13 margin in free throw attempts on the day.

The Redhawks, who have won four road games in a row, are 5-2 away from home this season.

Southeast returns to Cape Girardeau to host Illinois-Chicago on Dec. 14. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., CT, at the Show Me Center.