HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team plays its final home game on the season on Wednesday when it faces Southland Conference East Division leader McNeese State in a 7 p.m. contest at the University Center.
The game can be heard on the internet only at www.LionSports.net. Before the contest, Southeastern will honor seniors
Elgin Bailey and
DeShawn Patterson in a pre-game ceremony.
Coming off its second consecutive one-point loss in a 64-63 setback at Central Arkansas, Southeastern (10-17, 3-11 SLC) looks to send out its senior duo on a winning note as the Lions have posted a 10-4 record in the University Center this season. The Lions, who will close out the season on Saturday at Nicholls State, will look to build momentum heading into the 2012-13 season after losing leading scorer
Brandon Fortenberry for the season on Dec. 11 and dropping four league games by a combined six points.
Without Fortenberry, who was averaging 17.6 points per game from his point guard position, Southeastern has posted a 6-14 record while seeing its scoring output decrease by nearly eight points per game and its turnover per game average increase from 12.6 to 16.6.
In Fortenberry's absence,
Roosevelt Johnson has led the Lions in both scoring (10.9) and rebounds (7.9) while recording seven double-doubles on the season. Bailey, a Norco native who transferred to Southeastern from Mississippi State, is second on the team in both scoring (8.6) and rebounds (6.3).
Jeremy Campbell (7.6) and
Daron Populist (7.6) are next in scoring for Southeastern, which averages 59.5 points per game overall, but are scoring at a 67.1 clip at home.
Patterson, the all-time leader in steals at Southeastern (174), is second in school history in assists with 372. The Houma native, and former Vandebilt Catholic product, is averaging 6.0 points per game for the Lions while pulling down a career-best 4.6 rebounds.
Todd Nelson (5.6),
Antonnio Benton (4.4),
Quin Cooper (3.1) and
Onochie Ochie (3.0) follow in the scoring column for the Lions.
McNeese State (15-12, 10-4 SLC), which has lost its last two games by a combined seven points, looks to clinch the No. 2 seed in next week's Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas. The Cowboys, who defeated Southeastern, 61-47, on Jan. 18, are tied with Stephen F. Austin for the second-best record in the league standings and will travel to face Lamar in the season finale on Saturday.
Led by Patrick Richard, the league's leading scorer at 18.3 points per game, McNeese State is averaging 66.7 points per game while allowing 64.9. Jeremie Mitchell is averaging 11.1 points for the Cowboys with Dontae Cannon averaging 11.0.
Rudy Turner, the Cowboys' leading rebounder at 6.4 per game, is fourth on the team in scoring at 8.3 points while Desharick Guidry is scoring at a 5.5 clip.
