HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana closes out its non-conference home schedule when it hosts Florida A&M Monday at 7 p.m. in the University Center.
The Lions (5-4) will be out to extend their home win streak to 12. Southeastern currently has the longest streak in the Southland Conference and is tied for the 17th longest in the nation. The Lions have not lost in the University Center since a 75-71 setback against Incarnate Word on Jan. 16.
The game between Southeastern and Florida A&M (2-7) will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.
Live stats will be available at
www.LionSports.net.
"It's a great challenge for us," Southeastern head coach
Jay Ladner said. "Florida A&M is a team that beat us last year in Tallahassee. That certainly should be enough motivation in itself but they have a good team. We're just excited about getting back to playing in the University Center."
The Lions have not played in nine days and are coming off an 88-59 loss at Louisiana Tech on Dec. 3. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-1 lead and led by 18 at halftime. Southeastern got as close as six midway through the half, but a 19-4 run over the final 2:10 of the first half and the first 2:32 of the second helped Louisiana Tech pull away.
Junior guard
Eddy Polanco led Southeastern with 12 points. Junior guard
George Brock set a career-best with 11 points. Junior guard
Davon Hayes added 10 points while sophomore forward
Moses Greenwood pulled down a team-high four rebounds to go with eight points. Sophomore guard
Marlain Veal had five assists.
Veal is seventh in the Southland Conference in scoring (16.9 ppg) and second in assists (39) and steals (17). Senior center
Dominic Nelson (6.1 ppg) is second in total rebounds (70) and third in blocks (19) and rebounds per game (7.8). Greenwood is shooting 58.6 percent from the field, while averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds with 10 steals. Polanco, who will get his first career start on Monday, is averaging 9.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. Junior guard
Jabbar Singleton has dished out 23 assists while averaging 4.4 points.
Coming in off the bench are Hayes (11.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 19 assists), Brock (1.5 ppg), sophomore guard
Dimi Cook (3.2 ppg) and freshmen guards
Chris Mejia (3.4 ppg) and
Michael Corchiani (3.1 ppg).
The Lions are averaging 73.8 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting - third best in the Southland - and are first in total rebounds (327). They are also first in the conference and 32nd nationally in 3-point percentage (40.2) and first in the league and 61st nationally in both free throw attempts (218) and made (152).
Southeastern leads the conference in both scoring defense (69.8 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (41.7 percent). The Lions are forcing an average of 14.1 turnovers a game while blocking 2.8 shots and grabbing 6.0 steals.
Florida A&M will be looking to break a six-game losing streak Monday night. The Rattlers are coming off an 83-71 loss to Southern on Dec. 3. The Jaguars, who Southeastern plays on Dec. 28, pulled away with a 31-13 run in the second half. FAMU had four players score in double figures, led by junior forward Derrick Dandridge with 13 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Elijah Mays had 12 points and four assists, senior forward Trey-Cary Warren 11 points and freshman guard Nasir Core 10.
FAMU has had nine players start at least one game this season. Junior forward Desmond Williams, a transfer from Alabama Southern Community College, leads the Rattlers with 15.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. He has also recorded 13 blocks and 10 steals. Junior guard Craig Bowman (13.2 ppg) and junior guard Marcus Barham (11.8 ppg) are also averaging in double figures. Mays has a team-high 26 assists while averaging 6.1 points. Sophomore K'Ja Johnson is the team leader with 14 steals while sophomore guard/forward Nicholas Severado leads the way with 14 blocks.
FAMU is averaging 77.6 points on 42.6 shooting from the field. The Rattlers have hit 32.7 percent of their 3s and 68.0 percent of their free throws. Defensively, FAMU is allowing 82.9 points on 46.7 percent shooting. The Rattlers have been out-rebounded 44.2-36.0 and have a plus-4.3 turnover margin.
Southeastern leads the series with Florida A&M 4-1. The Lions won the first four games of the series - 92-77 in 1985, 62-61 in '86 and 61-50 in '99 in Hammond; and 76-65 in 2000 in Tallahassee, Florida. The Rattlers picked up their first win in the series, 67-64, at home last December.
Southeastern will next embark on a two-game road trip before the Christmas holidays. The Lions visit Toledo Saturday at 7 p.m., then travel to North Texas for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Dec. 20.
