KATY, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team will make its ninth postseason appearance in the past 10 seasons on Thursday when the Lions face in-state rival McNeese State in the 2013 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament at the Leonard E. Merrell Center.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), on the internet at www.LionSports.net and on the KSLU iPhone and TuneIn Radio app. A free, live video stream, courtesy of the Southland Digital Network, is also available at www.LionSports.net.

The winner of Thursday's game will face top-seeded Stephen F. Austin (26-3) in a semifinal contest on Friday at 5 p.m.

Southeastern (12-17), the No. 4 seed in the eight-team field, returns to the postseason after missing the 2012 event. The Lions claimed a first-round bye in the tournament by virtue of a 79-68 victory last Thursday in the University Center as Brandon Fortenberry scored eight of his game-high 23 points in a decisive 11-2 run over the final 3:10.

Fortenberry, who was named First-Team All-Southland Conference on Tuesday, leads Southeastern in scoring at 14.7 points per game. The fifth-year senior, who enters Thursday's game tied with former Lion Troy Green for fifth-place on the school's all-time scoring list (1,320 points), averaged 16.9 points per game in Southland Conference play in helping Southeastern to its sixth 10-win season in league play since 1995-96.

Southeastern will look to replace the play of senior Roosevelt Johnson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in last Saturday's 86-72 victory over Lamar. Johnson, who earned Third-Team All-Southland Conference honors, finished second on the team in scoring (10.6 points) while finishing third in the league with 8.3 rebounds.

Dre Evans (9.0) and Jeffery Ricard (8.9) are next in scoring for the Lions, who averaged 62.9 points per game overall and 66.1 in league play, with Onochie Ochie (5.5 points), Todd Nelson (5.4), Antonnio Benton (4.7) and Roger Woods (3.8) following.

McNeese State (14-16), the No. 8 seed, rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second half to upset fifth-seeded Nicholls State, 62-59, in a first round game on Wednesday. The Cowboys held the Colonels to 32 percent shooting (7-for-22) from the floor in the second half as they rallied from a 33-28 halftime deficit.

Dontae Cannon scored a game-high 23 points to lead McNeese State with Kevin Hardy adding 11.

The schools, who will meet for the first time in the Southland Conference Tournament, split the season-series with each institution winning on its home court. Southeastern is 5-7 all-time in the Southland Conference Tournament which included claiming the 2005 tournament championship and earning its first-ever NCAA Division I Championship berth.