HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana will be out for its season-high fourth straight victory when the Lions host Northwestern State Wednesday in Southland Conference action at 7:30 p.m. in the University Center.

    The game between the Lions (12-8, 5-2 Southland) and Demons (8-9, 2-4 Southland) features Southeastern's annual "Jam the Jungle" promotion. The first 300 students at the men's game will receive free food and a promotional item.

    It is also be a Cane's Challenge night. If the Lions score 60 or more points, fans can take their game ticket or student coupon to any participating Raising Cane's by the end of business on Thursday to receive a free combo with the purchase of another combo of equal or greater value.

    Wednesday's game 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. LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video stream at www.LionSports.net/watch. Live stats will also be available at www.LionSports.net.

    Southeastern, which has won three straight for the third time this season, is off to its best start in conference since the 2004-05 season and is riding a 16-game home winning streak, tied for 10th in the nation.

    The Lions are coming off an 83-71 win over Houston Baptist on Saturday in which sophomore forward Moses Greenwood tossed in a game-high 17 points to go with seven rebounds and a career-high five steals. Also in double figures were junior guard Davon Hayes (16 points, 5 assists), sophomore guard Jabbar Singleton (14 points, 5 assists), sophomore guard Marlain Veal (11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) and junior forward James Currington (10 points, 7 rebounds).

    Veal leads the team with 13.5 points per game while ranking fourth in the conference in assists (4.4 apg) and ninth in steals (1.7 spg). Greenwood, who had his 14th double-digit scoring game Saturday in earning honorable mention SLC Player of the Week honors, is averaging 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds. Hayes is averaging 12.6 points and 4.3 rebounds while recording 39 assists and 17 steals. Currington (8.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Singleton (4.9 ppg, 59 assists) are also projected to start for Southeastern.

    Southeastern goes into Wednesday's game averaging 72.6 points per game on 45.7 percent shooting. The Lions continue to rank second in the conference in both scoring defense (68.3 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (42.9 percent).

    That defense will be tested against Northwestern State. Despite being without All-Southland Conference senior guards Jalan West and Zeek Woodley due to injuries, the Demons remain a formidable foe, particularly on the offensive end. NSU leads the conference with 77.7 points per game since the start of league action and is averaging 75.2 points overall on 42.7 percent shooting. Defensively, the Demons are allowing 78.2 points on 46.2 percent from the field.

    NSU picked up its first conference road win, 78-65, at McNeese on Saturday. Senior guard Sabri Thompson earned honorable mention SLC Player of the Week recognition after tossing in a game-high 21 points. Junior guard Iziahiah Sweeney added 14 points while freshman guard Josh Boyd had 11 and sophomore forward Ishmael Lane 10.

    Thompson is the leading scorer for the Demons with 12.3 points per game and is fifth in the conference with 2.2 3-pointers per contest. Junior Devonte Hall leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.3) and is third in assists (4.6 apg). Senior guard Tra'von Joseph (8.4 ppg) is averaging a team-high 6.5 rebounds. Lane (9.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 14 blocks) and Sweeney (6.5 ppg, 20 steals) are the other projected starters.

    For the second straight game, the Lions will be taking on one of the top rebounding teams in the Southland. NSU leads the conference with 38.9 rebounds a game and is second in both offensive (13.2) and defensive rebounds (25.6) per contest.

    Southeastern has held its own on the boards in 2016-17. The Lions are 10-3 this season when leading in rebounding and 12-3 when getting 35 or more rebounds. They rank second in the Southland in rebounding margin at plus-4.2, averaging 36.5 rebounds while allowing 32.3.

    Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner said winning the battle on the boards will continue to be a key for the Lions.
   

    "This is a team that took injuries to a couple of good players, although in no way are they talent depleted," Ladner said of Northwestern State. "They lost a couple of guys and a lot of people feel like if they had a full team, they would have been maybe the odds-on team to win the league. But they are still very formidable as they showed going into McNeese and beating them on Saturday. It's always been a tough game for us. We're 1-3 against them since I've been here. Coach (Mike) McConathy does a great job and they play very, very hard and they're incredible athletic. Rebounding the ball and keeping them off the boards, particularly the offensive boards, is going to be a tall order for us. We're going to have to be fundamentally sound and tough because winning the rebounding battle is key for us to be successful."

    Northwestern State is by far the most common opponent for Southeastern with the Demons and Lions playing for the 134th time on Wednesday. NSU holds an 85-48 lead in the series dating back to 1947-48. The teams split in 2015-16, with the Demons taking a 91-76 win in Natchitoches and Southeastern ending a six-game losing streak in the series with an 82-80 victory in Hammond.

    Southeastern closes out the first half of conference play at Sam Houston State Saturday at 6:15 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas.