HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University closes outs the home portion of its 2008-09 men's basketball schedule Saturday afternoon when it plays host to Southland Conference rival Central Arkansas in a 3 p.m. contest at the University Center.

The game, which will be televised on a tape-delayed basis on the Southeastern Channel (Charter Channel 18 in Tangipahoa/St. Tammany Parish), can be heard on the internet at www.LionSports.net. Warrell Span, the team's lone senior, will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.

After falling behind by 17 points in its last game against SLC West co-leader Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Southeastern (10-16, 4-9 SLC) roared back and edged the Islanders, 70-68, on a bucket by Damon Forest with .4 seconds remaining. The win moved the Lions to within one game of McNeese State and Texas State for the eighth, and final spot, in the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament.

Patrick Sullivan scored a team-high 17 points to pace Southeastern to its most dramatic win of the season while Span added 16. Forest and Chris Cyprian scored 10 points each for Southeastern, which snapped a six-game losing streak overall and four straight in the University Center.

Sullivan leads Southeastern in scoring at 12.0 points per game followed by Span (10.4), Cyprian (9.4) and Forest (8.2). Brandon Fortenberry (7.6) and Robert Tibbs (6.1) are next for the Lions, who average 70.1 points per game and rank third in the SLC in field goal percentage (.466).

UCA (9-17, 2-11 SLC) dropped its eighth consecutive game on Wednesday in a narrow 60-58 setback to Nicholls State. The Bears, who lost to Southeastern to open their current skid, erased a 10-point deficit against the Colonels and tied the game in the final seconds before Anatoly Bose sank a pair of free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining. Marcus Pillow's 3-point attempt at the buzzer fell short in the Bears' third two-point loss in six games.

Pillow leads UCA in scoring at 12.4 points per game followed by Brooks Taylor at 12.1. Mitch Reuter is the Bears' other player averaging in double figures (11.7) while Brian Marks ranks second in the SLC with 8.8 rebounds per game.

Southeastern, which is looking to earn its sixth consecutive berth to the postseason, closes out the regular-season next week with games at SLC East rivals McNeese State (March 4) and Northwestern State (March 7).