HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to in-state rival Northwestern State in a Southland Conference contest at the University Center.
Tipoff is at 6 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern (8-14, 2-8 SLC), one of six teams battling for the final two spots in next month's Southland Conference Tournament, looks to snap a four-game losing streak that began with a 55-38 setback against Northwestern State (14-10, 7-3 SLC) on Jan. 28. The Lions battled back from an 11-point deficit to tie the game before the Demons pulled away, holding Southeastern scoreless for the remaining 9:16.
The Lions, who have held eight opponents under 60 points this season, dropped a 59-51 decision at UTSA on Wednesday as the Roadrunners closed out the game with an 6-0 run after a basket by
Jeremy Campbell cut the lead to 53-51 with 2:00 remaining.
Campbell led Southeastern with 10 points while
Roosevelt Johnson and
Daron Populist added eight points each.
Johnson leads Southeastern with 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game followed by
Elgin Bailey at 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds. Populist (7.9), Campbell (7.3),
DeShawn Patterson (5.8) and
Todd Nelson (5.2) are next in scoring for the Lions, who are 4-11 since losing leading scorer
Brandon Fortenberry (17.6 points per game) to a season-ending foot injury on Dec. 11.
Patterson, third in the Southland Conference in steals (1.9) and fifth in assists (3.5), looks to move closer to Hank Washington's school record of 169 steals set from 1990-93. The Houma native and former Vandebilt Catholic product enters Saturday's game second in school history with 162 steals and his 352 assists are five shy of tying former Lion Troy Green (1995-99) for second-place.
Northwestern State, which is tied with Lamar for second-place in the SLC East Division and one-half game behind division leader McNeese State, had its five-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday in an 85-66 loss at Lamar. William Mosley posted a double-double for the Demons with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while blocking four shots to increase his career total to 434 – three shy of tying Lorenzo Coleman of Tennessee Tech for 11th place in NCAA history and seven blocks shy of breaking into the NCAA career top 10 by tying former Connecticut star and current New Orleans Hornet center Emeka Okafor.
Shamir Davis leads Northwestern State in scoring at 13.8 points per game with Mosley next at 10.9 points and a team-high 9.9 rebounds. Louis Ellis (10.5), James Hulbin (9.3) and Gary Roberson (6.5) are next in scoring for the Demons, who average 71.5 points per game.
