KATY, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball squad faces in-state rival McNeese State in the opening game of the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament, Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Merrell Center.
Southeastern (9-22, 6-12 Southland), the No. 8 seed, matches up with No. 5 seed McNeese (14-15, 8-10 Southland) for the third time this season. The winner will advance to face No. 4 seed Northwestern State (18-11, 13-5 Southland) in the second round, Thursday at 5 p.m.
All of the Lions games in the tournament can be heard in the Hammond, Louisiana, area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online and either the KSLU or TuneIn Radio smartphone apps. Live statistics will be provided, as will streaming video on the Southland Conference Digital Network. Links for audio, stats, video and tickets are available on the basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
The Lions, who have dropped their last five games overall, are coming off a 75-69 loss to Nicholls State in the regular season finale.
DeVonte Upson (10.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg),
Cedric Jenkins (10.7 ppg) and
Onochie Ochie (8.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg) lead Southeastern on offense. The Lions are shooting 46.1 percent from the floor (785-of-1,703), 31.6 percent from three-point range (182-of-576) and 66.3 percent on free throws (374-of-564). Southeastern is averaging 68.6 points and 33 rebounds per game.
Southeastern is making its third straight appearance in the conference tournament and has dropped two straight at the Merrell Center. The Lions' last postseason win was over McNeese, 85-65, in the second round of the 2013 Southland tournament.
The Cowboys are making their fifth consecutive appearance in the conference tournament and have dropped their last two in Katy. McNeese's last postseason win was over Nicholls State, 62-59, in the opening round of the 2013 Southland Tournament.
McNeese rolls into Katy having won its last four games overall, wrangling wins over Central Arkansas, Nicholls, Lamar and the Bears of UCA a second time.
Desharick Guidry (17.4 ppg, 11.2 rpg) leads the conference in rebounding and is fourth in scoring. Kevin Hardy (13.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Keelan Garrett (10.4 ppg) lend a helping hand for McNeese.
The Cowboys are shooting 42.6 percent from the floor (733-of-1,722), 31.4 percent from three-point range (178-of-566) and 65.4 percent on free throws (359-of-549). McNeese is averaging 69.1 points and 35.3 rebounds per game.
The first four games of the men's tournament will be streamed live for free on the Southland Conference Digital Network, including www.Southland.org/watch and the league's mobile and tablet apps. The semifinals will be available solely on ESPN3, while the championship game will be covered exclusively on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.
The winner of the tournament will receive the Southland's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The selection show is Sunday, March 15 at 5 p.m., CT, on CBS.
For complete information about the tournament, visit www.Southland.org/katy.
Wednesday, March 11Game 1: No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 McNeese State, 5 p.m. (SLCDN)
Game 2: No. 7 New Orleans vs. No. 6 Nicholls, 7:30 p.m. (SLCDN)
Thursday, March 12Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 4 Northwestern State, 5 p.m. (SLCDN)
Game 4: Winner Game 2 vs. No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7:30 p.m. (SLCDN)
Friday, March 13Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 1 Stephen F. Austin, 5 p.m. (ESPN3)
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. No. 2 Sam Houston State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, March 14Championship Game, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
