HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to Sam Houston State in a Southland Conference contest at the University Center.
Tipoff is scheduled for 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. The game will also be televised on a tape-delayed basis on the Southeastern Channel (Charter Cable Channel 18) in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Livingston, and St. Helena Parishes and (Charter Cable Channel 17) in Washington Parish.
Southeastern (8-12, 2-6 SLC) opens the second half of league play looking to halt a two-game losing streak overall and fourth straight to Sam Houston State (8-14, 2-6 SLC) dating back to the 2007-08 season. The Lions dropped an 83-59 contest to visiting Lamar on Wednesday as the Cardinals built a 44-24 lead at halftime and scored 26 points off 15 Southeastern turnovers.
Jeremy Campbell led Southeastern with 14 points with
Elgin Bailey and
Daron Populist adding 10 each.
The Lions, who fell to 4-9 in games without senior guard and leading scorer
Brandon Fortenberry, are paced in scoring by
Roosevelt Johnson who is averaging 9.5 points per game. Bailey (9.2), Populist (8.2), Campbell (7.0) and
DeShawn Patterson (6.2) are next in scoring for Southeastern with Johnson pulling down a team-high 7.2 rebounds per contest.
SHSU has lost its last four games, including a pair of one-point setbacks to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and archrival Stephen F. Austin. The Bearkats fell to McNeese State, 67-61, in their last contest on Saturday despite 16 points each from Marcus James and Demarcus Gatlin.
Konner Tucker paces SHSU in scoring at 11.7 points per game followed by Gatlin (10.8), Steven Werner (10.8) and James (9.8), who leads the Bearkats in rebounds (6.7) and blocked shots (17).
Southeastern enters the game averaging 59.6 points per game with SHSU averaging 59.3. The Lions are allowing 63.0 points per contest with the Bearkats allowing 61.1.
SHSU leads the all-time series, 22-14, including a 75-65 victory last season in Huntsville. Southeastern's last victory in the series came on Jan. 9, 2008 in a 61-58 contest in Huntsville. The Lions' last victory over SHSU in the University Center was a 71-62 decision in the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament on March 10, 2005.
