HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana will look to go 3-0 in Southland Conference play for the first time since the 2004-05 season when the Lions travel to Houston Baptist Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Sharp Center.

    Southeastern (9-6) started 2-0 in the Southland for the first time since the 2009-10 season with a 74-63 victory over UIW on Monday. It was the Lions' 14th straight home win, their longest home winning streak since a 23-game streak from Feb. 22, 2003 to Feb. 5, 2005.

    Southeastern will now try to break through on the road at Houston Baptist (5-7, 1-1), which is 4-0 in the Sharp Center in 2016-17. The Lions, meanwhile, are 2-6 away from Hammond this season and went 2-7 on the road in conference play in 2015-16.

    "You can't build a winning program by losing," Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner said. "One of the first things you have to establish is the ability to win at home and I've felt like we have done that. Obviously, we have to continue to get better and improve if we are to continue to win at home. It's very difficult to win on the road in Division I basketball and that's now what we have to establish. I think that's a great challenge and they've responded to all the challenges that have been put in front of them before. To win on the road, you have to be sound, you have to be tough-minded. Officiating is a little bit tougher on the road and you have to play through that. You have to be tougher than that and you have to play smart and you have to play together. Obviously, we will be a very tough environment on Thursday."

    The game between the Lions and Houston Baptist 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. Links to live video (hbuhuskies.com, subscription required) and live stats will be accessible on the men's basketball schedule page at LionSports.net.

    Sophomore guard Marlain Veal tossed in 24 points while recording six assists against UIW on Monday. Junior forward James Currington contributed 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds while sophomore forward Moses Greenwood had 10 points and eight rebounds. The Lions shot 40.6 percent from the field but out-rebounded UIW 41-38 and committed a season-low nine turnovers.

    Southeastern goes into Thursday's game averaging 73.7 points per game on 47.0 percent shooting - second best in the Southland - and is first in the conference in 3-point percentage at 38.6 percent. The Lions continue to lead the league in scoring defense (67.7 ppg) and are second in field goal percentage defense (42.2 percent) and scoring margin (plus-6.1). Southeastern also paces the Southland in rebounding margin at plus-3.9 in averaging 36.1 while allowing 32.2.

    Veal leads the team with 14.7 points per game while ranking third in the conference in assists (64) and field goal percentage (50.3) and eighth in steals (24). Junior guard Davon Hayes is averaging 13.1 points and 4.3 rebounds while recording 26 assists and 16 steals.

    Greenwood is averaging 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds, while ranking third in the league in field goal percentage (59.3) and seventh in offensive boards a game (2.47). Currington, who missed the first nine games with an injury, has started the past two games and is now averaging 8.7 points and 6.5 rebounds a contest. Junior guard Jabbar Singleton (3.5 ppg) has dished out 43 assists.

    Senior center Dominic Nelson (5.0 ppg) leads the squad coming off the bench. Nelson is second in the league in rebounds (110) and blocks (36), fourth in defensive rebounds per game (5.13) and seventh in rebounds per game (7.3) and is 27th in the country with 2.4 blocks per game.
    
    Houston Baptist has split a pair of road games to open conference, defeating Sam Houston State 79-65 before losing at Stephen F. Austin 61-51 last Saturday.

    Senior guard Reveal Chukwujekwu had a double-double for the Huskies against SFA with 19 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Junior center Josh Ibarra added 10 boards and six points while senior forward Colter Lasher and sophomore guard Braxton Bonds had seven points apiece. Bonds also had six steals.

    Lasher leads HBU and is tied for ninth in the Southland with 15.0 points per contest while recording 32 assists. Chukwujekwu, who earned honorable mention conference player of the week honors after averaging 17.5 rebounds and 12.0 rebounds over the two games, is sixth in the league in rebounding (7.5 rpg) while averaging 12.0 points.

    Ibarra is averaging 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds a game while Bonds (7.8 ppg) is the Huskies' leader in assists (37) and steals (22). Sophomore guard Asa Cantwell (5.3 ppg) wraps up the projected starting five for HBU.

    Houston Baptist's 77.9 points per game ranks second in the league. The Huskies are also tied for second, just behind Southeastern, in rebounding margin at 3.8 and are third in rebounds per game (37.7) while ranking fourth in rebounds allowed (33.8). The Huskies are shooting 45.4 percent from the field while allowing 78.2 points on 46.7 percent shooting.

    Southeastern and Houston Baptist have split their eight previous meetings. The Huskies swept two games against the Lions in 2015-16, taking a 77-58 win in Houston and a 73-68 victory in the second round of the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas. Southeastern's last victory in the series came at home, 87-67, during the 2014-15 season.

    Southeastern remains on the road to play at Lamar on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.