HAMMOND – After opening the season with five home wins in its first six games, the Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team plays its second road contest of the season Saturday afternoon when it faces Jackson State at the Williams Assembly Center.
Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.
Playing the first of two straight games on road that concludes with a Dec. 14 contest at LSU, Southeastern (5-1) has won its last three games and plays its first game away from the University Center since a Nov. 19 contest at Mississippi State.
The Lions posted an 83-57 win over Spring Hill College on Tuesday as
Patrick Sullivan scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures.
Gary Dixon added a season-high 16 points for Southeastern while
Trent Hutchin and
Rodney Jones scored 13 points apiece and
Deshawn Patterson 12.
Southeastern, which ranks first in the Southland Conference in scoring offense, averages 82.8 points per game while allowing 64.7. Sullivan, a 6-foot-9 senior, leads the Lions in scoring (16.7), rebounds (7.5) and blocked shots (2.8) and is second on the team in steals (1.2).
Damon Forest is next in scoring for Southeastern (13.2) while Hutchin is the Lions' other player averaging in double figures at 11.8. Dixon (9.8),
Brandon Fortenberry (8.5) and Jones (6.0) are next in scoring for the Lions while Patterson leads the team in assists (4.0) and steals (2.2) per game.
Jackson State (0-5) has averaged 61.8 points per game while allowing 75.4 against a schedule that has featured Memphis, Alabama, North Texas and two games against defending Southland champion Stephen F. Austin. After a narrow 62-61 loss at SFA on Nov. 21, the Tigers fell to the Lumberjacks in a 79-68 decision on Tuesday.
Garrison Johnson, who has led JSU in scoring in three games, paces the Tigers in scoring at 17.4 points per game while Tyrone Hanson is next at 11.6 with a team-high 4.8 rebounds per game.
Southeastern trails in the all-time series against JSU, 9-6, but has won the last two games. The Lions posted a 70-51 victory in last year's contest at the University Center and defeated the Tigers two years ago on the road, 61-49, to snap a nine-game losing streak in the series.
