HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana wraps up play in the Savannah Invitational with a pair of games in Birmingham, Ala. this weekend.

    The Lions (2-3) take on Samford (1-4) on Friday and Mississippi Valley State (0-5) Saturday. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m.

    Friday's game will be broadcast by ESPN3. Both games can be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM 90.9 and online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive. Live stats will be accessible on the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

    Southeastern is finishing off a six-game road trip, the Lions' longest stretch away from Hammond since a seven-game span from Dec. 4, 2010 to Jan. 2, 2011.

    Southeastern rallied from 12 down to end a three-game losing streak and pick up its first road win of the season with a 70-66 win at Kent State on Tuesday. Senior guard Eddy Polanco scored the Lions' final 10 points, including the eventual game-winning 3-pointer with 1:05 left.

    Polanco hit four 3-pointers in finishing with 22 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Marlain Veal also had 22 points as Southeastern shot 47.1 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent in the second half. The Lions out-rebounded the nation's No. 11 rebounding team 37-32, led by junior guard Keith Charleston who tied a career-high with 10 boards. Southeastern also held Kent State to 27.7 points below its season average while allowing a season-low 37.1 percent from the field.

    Samford will be trying to break a three-game losing streak following an 88-67 loss at Valparaiso on Tuesday. Junior guard Justin Coleman led three Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points. Junior forward Stefan Lakic added 11 points and senior forward Alex Thompson 10.

    Mississippi Valley led 31-28 at the half at Loyola (Chicago) before losing 63-59 on Tuesday. Junior guard Tereke Eckwood led the Delta Devils with 15 points, while junior forwards Gemaal Davis and Davere Creighton added eight and seven points, respectively. Junior forward Dante Scott finished with seven rebounds.  
 
NOTES
Southeastern
    Southeastern is averaging 72.0 points on 41.5 percent shooting from the field, including 35.1 percent on 3-pointers. The Lions are allowing 78.2 points per contest on 48.6 percent shooting, including 36.6 percent on 3s. Southeastern has a plus-1.4 rebounding margin, averaging 35.8 rebounds while giving up 34.4.
 
    The Lions lead the Southland Conference in both free throw attempts (134) in free throws made (90), ranking 15th and 24th in the country, respectively,
 
    Veal is second in the Southland in steals (12) and fourth in assists (21) while leading Southeastern with 15.6 points per game. Polanco is averaging 13.3 points while ranking second in the league in free throw percentage (.889) and fifth in 3-pointers (11). Junior forward Moses Greenwood (7.8 ppg) is the conference leader with 38 rebounds while ranking sixth with 7.6 rebounds.
 
    Veal, Charleston (7.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg., 11 assists), Greenwood, senior guard Jabbar Singleton (6.6 ppg, 12 assists) and senior forward James Currington (7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, seven steals) are the projected starters for the Lions. Senior forward Capps (8.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg) and Polanco are the top reserves.
 
    Samford leads the series between the former TAAC rivals 9-5. This will be the first meeting since Southeastern left the conference following the 1996-97 season. The teams met twice in 1984 before playing in the TAAC from 1992-97. Samford won the last meeting, 54-53, in Hammond in 1997. The Lions took a 77-76 win in Birmingham earlier that season.
    Southeastern is 14-15 against current members of the Southern Conference.
 
    Southeastern and Mississippi Valley have split four previous meetings. The Lions defeated the Delta Devils 76-70 at the 2010 USM Hardwood Holiday Classic in Hattiesburg, Miss. MVSU captured a 52-39 win in the 1988 Southwest Missouri Tournament.
 
    Southeastern is 40-45 against current members of the SWAC. The Lions defeated Jackson State, 57-51, in an exhibition earlier this season and will host Grambling State on Dec. 16.
 
    Southeastern is playing in Alabama for the first time since losing at Alabama on Dec. 15, 2010.
 
Samford
    Samford returns all five starters from a squad that went 20-16 and advanced to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in 2016-17. Senior guard Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, who led the Bulldogs in scoring, and junior center Wyatt Walker were named to the preseason Southern Conference team.
 
    Coleman leads Samford with 12.4 points per game and is second with 19 assists. Denzel-Dyson is averaging 12.0 points and 4.2 rebounds while Thompson is averaging 9.8 points. Senior forward Eric Adams has a team-high 5.4 rebounds per contest while sophomore guard Josh Sharkey is the team leader with 20 assists.
 
    Coleman, Denzel-Dyson, Adams, Thompson and senior guard Christen Cunningham (9.0 ppg) are the projected Samford starters.
 
    Samford comes in averaging 72.6 points on 43.0 percent shooting, including 33.8 percent on a 3-pointers. Opponents are averaging 88.8 points on 54.6 percent shooting, including 39.1 percent on 3s. The Bulldogs are grabbing 28.2 rebounds per contest, while giving up 36.6.
 
    Scott Padgett is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Bulldogs.
 
Mississippi Valley State
    Mississippi Valley is averaging 55.2 points and 30.2 rebounds per game. The Delta Devils are shooting 35.6 percent, 28.9 percent on 3s. Opponents are averaging 81.6 points and 41.6 rebounds, shooting 51.3 percent overall and 39.5 percent on 3s.
 
    Eckwood (11.0 ppg, 11 assists, seven steals) is the lone Delta Devil averaging in double figures. Scott is averaging a team-high 4.6 rebounds while scoring 7.4 points and dishing out 11 assists. Junior guard Jordan Evans is the assist leader with 12 while averaging 7.2 points.
 
    Projected starters are Eckwood, Evans, Scott, junior center Emmanuel Ejeh (5.6 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and junior forward Arinze Anakwenze (2.8 ppg).
 
    Mississippi Valley finished 7-25 overall and lost to Alcorn State in the first round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament in 2016-17.
 
QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
On playing on consecutive days…
    "It's going to be a tough one for us but we're looking forward to going. We're treating it like a little tournament. If we can win two, we can win the tournament but obviously we have to beat two really good teams."
 
On Samford…
    "Samford is predicted to win the Southern Conference. They have a really good team and to have to go play them at home we're going to have our hands full. They are going to play a style we really haven't seen and you don't see a lot of. They are going to pressure you the whole game. In a way that could be good for us. It's going to free some guys up like Marlain who are going to have some driving opportunities against their press is we can manage it and not turn the basketball over."
 
UP NEXT:
   Southeastern returns home for the first time since Nov. 10 to host Loyola-New Orleans for Study Break Night Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the University Center.