HAMMOND – After holding off McNeese State in its last game, the Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday when it travels to face Nicholls State in a Southland Conference contest at Stopher Gym.

Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net. The meeting between SLC East Division preseason favorites Southeastern (8-7, 2-1 Southland) and Nicholls State (8-7, 2-2 Southland) will be the 85th between the schools since the 1959-60 campaign. Southeastern, which swept both meetings last season, holds a 46-38 advantage in the series.

Southeastern was set to turn in one of its best performances of the season in building a 27-point lead against McNeese State before holding off the East Division leading Cowboys in the final minute. The 80-77 victory was Southeastern's 11th straight at home dating back to last season and moved the Lions to within a half-game of McNeese State in the East Division standings.

Trent Hutchin and Deshawn Patterson each scored 21 points for Southeastern while David Ndoumba added nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the win. The Lions used a 43-12 run over a 14-minute span and turned a seven-point deficit into a 65-38 lead.

Hutchin, the sixth-leading scorer in the Southland Conference, is averaging 15.5 points per game to lead Southeastern followed by Ndoumba (10.6) and Brandon Fortenberry (10.1). Gary Dixon (9.7), Roosevelt Johnson (6.5), Rodney Jones (6.3), Patterson (5.9) and Jason Marks (4.9) are part of a Southeastern team that averages 70.5 points per game and are fourth in the league in scoring defense (68.6).

The Lions face a Nicholls State squad that has won its last 10 games at home, including a 66-52 victory over Tulane on Nov. 26. The Colonels, who posted a 62-53 win over LSU on Nov. 16, snapped a two-game losing streak with a convincing 70-51 win over league rival Central Arkansas on Wednesday.

Anatoly Bose, the Southland Conference's leading scorer at 22.5 points per game, is ninth in the country in scoring and has scored 20 or more points in 39 games. Fred Hunter, who scored 21 points on 10-for-13 aim against UCA, is averaging 15.7 points for the Colonels while pulling down a team-high 5.5 rebounds.

Kenny Franklin (6.3), Dantrell Thomas (4.7), Bryan Hammond (4.3) and Kellan Carter (4.2) are next in scoring for Nicholls, which averages 67.5 points per game and is second in the Southland Conference in scoring defense (60.5) and steals (9.5).