HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team returns Wednesday to the University Center after a pair of road games to host Mississippi College at 7 p.m. in the 2015-16 home opener.
The Southeastern Louisiana University Sport Management Association is conducting a canned food drive at the game. Each canned good donated earns a free raffle ticket that could be good for an assortment prizes, including tickets to a future New Orleans Pelicans game.
Southeastern students and campus organizations can also earn 10 points toward their new Lion Up Loyalty account at the exhibition game just by checking-in on the mobile app while in attendance.
There is no local radio coverage for the contest, but fans can watch it live on LionVision, Southeastern's subscription-based video stream, or follow live statistics. Links for both are available on the basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
Southeastern (0-2) is coming off a 100-58 loss Monday to former head coach Billy Kennedy and his Texas A&M squad.
Marlain Veal, a freshman from Gretna, Louisiana, led the Lions with 10 points.
Through two games Hammond native
Zay Jackson leads the team in scoring with an average of 14 points per game. Veal (8.5 ppg) and
Keith Charleston (8.0 ppg) are the Lions other top scorers. Charleston, a junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, is also the team's leading rebounder (6.0 per game).
Southeastern is shooting 38.8 percent (45-of-116) from the floor, including 31.1 percent (14-of-45) from 3-point range. The Lions are 31-of-51 (60.8 percent) from the free throw line and have been out-rebounded, 89-60.
The Choctaws (1-0), which play Tuesday at Spring Hill College, defeated Belhaven, 71-67, this past Friday. Five players, Tory Rice (16), Johnny Rucker (15), Tristan Moore (14), Otis Harvey (12) and Jonathan McGee (10), scored in double figures. Rice also grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
Mississippi College shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the floor, including 20.8 percent (5-of-24) from 3-point range. The Choctaws were 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line and out-rebounded Belhaven, 34-28.
Advanced tickets for individual basketball games can be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or through the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office, located in Room 107 of the Dugas Center for Southeastern Athletics. For more information, contact the ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Fridays.
Courtside Top Cat seats are $25 for an individual game. General admission tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children (age 3-12). Southeastern students will be admitted free with a valid university ID card.
The University Center box office opens one hour prior to tipoff.
Following the game the Lions will embark on a week-long trip to compete in the Barclays Center Classic. The journey will take Southeastern to Nebraska, Cincinnati and finally West Point, New York, for a pair of games.
