MACOMB, Ill. – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball squad returns to action Saturday at Western Illinois in the first of two upcoming road games. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Western Hall.
Monday, Southeastern (0-2) travels to Tennessee Tech (1-1) for 6 p.m. contest, opening a four-game stretch that is part of the Tulane Tournament.
Both games can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online and either the KSLU or TuneIn Radio smartphone app. Fans can also keep up with the game with live statistics or streaming video. Saturday's video stream requires a subscription, but Monday's contest at TTU will be available free of charge on the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network. Links for audio, stats and video are available on the basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
The Lions last played this past Sunday, falling, 78-53, at then No. 19-ranked Oklahoma. Southeastern overcame a sluggish first half, going toe-to-toe with Oklahoma down the stretch, but a 23-point deficit at half proved too much to overcome for the young Lion squad. With the win, the Sooners moved up one spot in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Polls.
Junior guard
Andrew Guillory, playing in just his second game as a Lion after sitting out last season with an injury, led SLU in scoring. The Fort Worth, Texas, native pumped in 16 points. He grabbed five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists.
Guillory (11 points per game) and Hammond, Louisiana, native
Zay Jackson (10.5 ppg) are the Lions' top scoring threats thus far. Jackson (3.0 assists per game) and
Joshua Filmore (2.0 apg) have split time running the point. Senior forward
DeVonte Upson is averaging a team-best 10.5 rebounds per contest.
The Lions are shooting just over 32 percent from the floor (40-of-124, .323) through two games, and are 9-of-48 (18.8 percent) from three-point range. As a team, the Lions are averaging 43.5 rebounds per game.
Western Illinois (0-2) leads the all-time series, 5-1. The Lions only win came last season, defeating WIU in Hammond, 62-52. The Leathernecks five victories over SLU all came prior to 1980. The first ever meeting between the two programs occurred on December 13, 1948 in Hammond with the Leathernecks winning, 67-56.
Garret Covington leads WIU in both scoring (11 ppg) and assists (5.5 per contest). Jalen Chapman (6.0 rpg) is the squad's leading rebounder.
The Leathernecks, who are coming off a 67-64 loss at Illinois-Chicago this past Monday, are shooting just over 39 percent as a team overall (47-of-120, .392) and 31.5 percent from beyond the arc (17-of-54). WIU is averaging 37.5 rebounds per game.
TTU, which hosts UT-Chattanooga Saturday evening, dropped its most recent contest, 70-58, at Southern Cal this past Monday.
Dwan Caldwell (16.5 ppg) and Charles Jackson (11.0 ppg, 11.5 rpg) are the Golden Eagles top players. TTU is shooting 40 percent from the floor (56-of-140) this season, but just 15.2 percent (5-of-33) from three-point range. At 51.5 boards per game, the squad leads the OVC in rebounding.
Southeastern will square off against the Golden Eagles again Wednesday, but this time the game is slated for the University Center. The Lions regular season home opener tips at 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve.
