HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team will welcome Southland Conference foe Abilene Christian for Military Appreciation Day Saturday at the University Center.
 
The Lions (4-17, 2-6 Southland) and the visiting Wildcats (10-12, 5-4 Southland) will tip-off at 4 p.m. in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader that opens with the SLU-ACU women's game at 1 p.m. Saturday will be Military Appreciation Day, as Southeastern Athletics offers free admission to all military personnel who present a valid military ID.
 
Saturday's game will also be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net, where LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video stream.
 
Southeastern, which has won its last two home games, will be looking to ride the momentum from Monday's thrilling 82-80 comeback win over McNeese State. With nine seconds left, junior guard Joshua Filmore drilled his fourth three-point field goal of the contest to provide the winning points for the Lions.
 
Filmore, who finished with 18 points in the win over the Cowboys, was one of four Lions in double figures on Monday. Junior forward Jordan Capps posted career-highs in scoring and rebounding, posting a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds. The three-point shooting of Filmore and senior wing JaMichael Hawkins (15 points, 5-for-7 from behind the arc) helped SLU erase a 12-point deficit over the final 12 minutes of the game.
 
Senior guard Zay Jackson is the catalyst of the Lion offense, averaging a team-high 12.3 points per game and ranking fourth in the Southland with 4.7 assists per game. Filmore (9.2 ppg), Capps (8.2 ppg), Veal (7.9 ppg) and Hawkins (7.6 ppg) round out the top scorers for the balanced Lion attack.
 
Capps is the team's most efficient scorer, connecting on 50.7 percent of his field goal attempts. Filmore (43) and Hawkins (41) are ranked 8^th and 10^th in the league in three-point field goals made.
 
Jackson also paces the squad with 4.5 rebounds per game. The Hammond, Louisiana native is eighth in the Southland rankings with 33 steals, while Capps enters Saturday's game with 19 blocked shots.
 
Much like Southeastern, ACU is coming off its most exciting win of the season. The Wildcats won their second straight game on Monday, handing a 79-72 loss to Houston Baptist – the Huskies' first league loss of the season. Freshman guard Jaylen Franklin led four Abilene Christian players in double figures with 21 points.
 
Franklin has proven an explosive scoring threat for the Wildcats in his first collegiate season. The Little Rock, Arkansas native is sixth in the Southland with 15.6 points per game. Senior guard Parker Wentz (9.7 ppg) and freshman forward Jaren Lewis (9.2 ppg) are the other top scorers for ACU.
 
Wentz is in the top five in the Southland in both three-point field goals made (54, 5^th) and three-point field goal percentage (47.8, 2^nd). Senior guard Jalen Little averages a team-high 4.6 assists per game – fifth in the league – and Lewis is pulling down a team-high 5.6 rebounds per contest.
 
Southeastern is hoping several statistical trends continue on Saturday. ACU comes to Hammond with a 2-10 record away from home this season and has not won outside of Abilene since Jan. 2 – a stretch of four straight road losses.
 
The Lions are also 2-0 versus Abilene Christian under second-year head coach Jay Ladner. Last season, Southeastern swept the season series. Saturday will be the first of two meetings between the two schools in 2015-16 with the Lions traveling to Abilene on Feb. 21.
 
Following Saturday's game, Southeastern will travel to Central Arkansas for a 7 p.m. game on Mardi Gras in Conway, Arkansas. Tuesday's game will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9) and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.