CONWAY, Ark. – Southeastern Louisiana will look to build off an upset win over Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference opener when the Lions close out 2017 with a New Year's Eve visit to Central Arkansas Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Farris Center.

    The game between the Lions (7-7, 1-0 Southland) and Bears (7-7, 1-0 Southland) can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. Live stats, via UCA, will be accessible on the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

    Southeastern closed Thursday's game against Stephen F. Austin on a 12-0 run to take a 73-62 win in the University Center. Trailing 62-61, senior guard Jabbar Singleton gave the Lions the lead for good with two free throws with 1:26 left. Junior guard Marlain Veal scored off a block by junior forward Moses Greenwood, then went the distance off his own rebound to make it 67-62 with 23 seconds remaining. He would add four free throws in the final 14 seconds.

    Veal finished with a game-high 27 points and added 10 rebounds for his third career double-double. He also had six assists. Senior forward James Currrington also had his fifth double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Senior guard Joshua Filmore added 15 points and three steals for Southeastern which snapped a three-game losing streak. The Lions shot 47.5 percent overall and out-rebounded Stephen F. Austin 32-27.

    Central Arkansas also won its Southland Conference opener Thursday, 81-69, at home over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Junior guard Thatch Unruh led the Bears with 20 points while senior guard Jordan Howard had 18 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Senior guard Mathieu Kamba added 13 points and six boards.
 
NOTES
Southeastern
    Southeastern is averaging 72.4 points on 43.8 percent shooting overall. The Lions are shooting 35.0 percent on 3-pointers, making 7.6 per game. Southeastern has attempted the most free throws in the Southland and 28th-most nationally (323) and made the third-most in the league (206).
 
    The Lions are allowing 72.1 points per contest on 45.1 percent shooting. Opponents are shooting 34.0 percent from beyond the arc.
 
    Southeastern is averaging 35.1 rebounds and allowing 35.0.
 
    Veal, who earned honorable mention Southland Player of the Week honors on Wednesday, leads the conference in assists per game (5.3). He is eighth in 3-point field goal percentage (.415), ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5), tied for 10th in steals (1.0 spg) and 15th in scoring (13.4 ppg).
   
    Veal needs eight points to reach 900 for his career.
 
    Junior forward Jordan Capps is tied for 17th in the Southland with 12.6 points per game. He ranks 10th in field goal percentage (.520). Junior forward Moses Greenwood is 12th in the league in both rebounding (6.3 rpg) and field goal percentage (.511) while averaging 8.3 points per game. Capps and Greenwood are tied for 11th with 0.9 blocks per game. Currington is 11th in field goal percentage (.515).
 
    Veal, Capps, Currington (8.9 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 23 steals), Filmore (9.0 ppg, 20 assists) and senior guard Jabbar Singleton (6.7 ppg, 35 assists) are the projected starters for the Lions.
 
    Southeastern leads Central Arkansas 14-7 in the series that dates back to the 2006-07 season. The teams split in 2016-17, each winning on their own court. Southeastern won 87-70 in Hammond after UCA took a 68-66 win in Conway.
 
    The Lions are 4-7 on the road against the Bears, having dropped four straight in Conway.
 
    Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner is 3-3 against Central Arkansas.
 
    Southeastern is playing on Dec. 31 for the second year in a row and the seventh time in its history. The Lions defeated Abilene Christian, 75-53, at home, in 2016.
 
Central Arkansas
    Central Arkansas returns three starters and 10 letterwinners from a team that went 8-24 overall and tied for eighth in the Southland.
 
    Howard, a preseason first-team All-Southland selection, was named the league's Player of the Week for the second time in 2017 on Wednesday. He leads the conference and ranks fourth nationally with 24.4 points per game, including a season-high 35 against UCLA and Oregon. He is also third nationally in 3-pointers made (54) and attempted (126).
 
    Howard ranks 10th in the league with 3.6 assists per game, fifth in both free throw percentage (.831) and 3-point field goal percentage (.429) and 14th in assist/turnover ratio (1.4).
 
    Kamba is 14th in the conference in scoring (13.6 ppg), tied for 13th in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and15th in field goal percentage (.504) and blocked shots (0.9 bpg).
 
    Expected to start are Horward, Kamba, Unruh (9.3 ppg, 38 assists), freshman center Hayden Koval (8.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 35 blocks) and senior forward Ethan Lee (5.3 ppg).
 
    Central Arkansas is second in the Southland with 82.7 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting. The Bears lead the league in 3-point shooting (.382) and are second with 16.6 assists per game. UCA is allowing 79.2 points on 44.2 percent shooting. Opponents are shooting 40.9 percent on 3s. The Bears are averaging 36.2 rebounds while allowing 40.3.
 
    Russ Pennell is in his fourth season as head coach of the Bears.
 
    Central Arkansas is 5-0 at home in 2017-18.
   
UP NEXT:
   Southeastern travels to Abilene Christian Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off.