HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana will look to remain undefeated in Southland Conference play when the Lions open a three-game home stand against McNeese Saturday at 5 p.m. in the University Center.

    The game between the Lions (10-7, 4-0 Southland) and Cowboys (5-10, 2-3 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. LionVision subscribers can access a live video stream at www.LionSports.net/watch Live stats will be accessible on the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

    Southeastern is 4-0 for the first time since joining the Southland Conference in 1997-98 and is the last remaining undefeated team in the league. The Lions, who are playing at home for the first time since defeating Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 28, will also be looking for their first five-game win streak overall since Feb. 13-March 3, 2006.

    Southeastern concluded a three-game road trip with a 63-58 win at Lamar on Saturday after rallying from a 16-point first-half deficit. The Lions held the Cardinals without a field goal in the final 11:52 and to five field goals overall in out-scoring them 36-16 in the second half.

    Junior guard Marlain Veal finished with team-highs of 15 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Senior guard Jabbar Singleton, whose 3-pointer brought Southeastern to within one with 4:59 left, contributed 14 points while junior forward Moses Greenwood had 11 points and three blocks.

    McNeese will be out to snap a three-game losing streak on Saturday. The Cowboys, playing without junior guard Jarren Greenwood, lost at Nicholls, 85-80, on Saturday.

    All five McNeese starters finished in double figures, led by sophomore guard Kalob Ledoux with 17 points. Senior forward Stephen Ugochukwu added 15 points and junior guard James Harvey 14. Junior forward Quatarrius Wilson had a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jacob Ledoux contributed a team-high five assists to go with 10 points.  
   
NOTES
Southeastern
    This is the second time in 2017-18 and the seventh time overall Southeastern will be going for five straight wins since last accomplishing the feat. The Lions won four straight from Nov. 21-28 before losing at Central Florida.
    Southeastern also had four-game win streaks from Nov. 10-18, 2006; Jan. 11-25, 2007; Feb. 25-March 7, 2009; Feb. 27-March 10, 2010 and Feb. 24-March 3, 2016.
 
    Southeastern is averaging 71.8 points on 44.2 percent shooting overall. The Lions are shooting 35.3 percent on 3-pointers, fourth-best in the conference.
 
    Southeastern has been the top defensive team in the league since the start of conference play, holding opponents to 64.8 points on 39.6 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent beyond the arc. Overall, the Lions are allowing 71.0 points on 43.8 percent shooting.
 
    Southeastern is averaging 36.1 rebounds and is third in league play with 38.8. The Lions are giving up 35.2 boards, but just 34.0 in conference action.
 
    Veal continues to lead the conference in assists per game (5.4) while also ranking ninth in steals (1.8 spg), 10th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 16th in scoring (13.1 ppg).
 
    Junior forward Jordan Capps is 11th in blocks (1.1) and 19th in scoring (12.4 ppg). Greenwood is seventh in rebounding (6.8 rpg) and 13th in field goal percentage (.504) while averaging 8.6 points per game. Singleton is tied for fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (.431); senior guard Joshua Filmore fifth in 3-pointers made (2.2); and senior forward James Currington ninth in field goal percentage (.522).
 
    Veal, Capps, Filmore (8.7 ppg, 25 assists), Currington (8.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 25 steals) and Singleton (7.5 ppg, 42 assists) have all started the past eight games for the Lions.
 
    McNeese is the second-most common opponent for Southeastern with this being the 109th meeting between the two programs. The Cowboys lead 64-44 but the Lions have won three straight in the series, including a 79-75 win in Hammond in 2016-17. McNeese's last win came 62-60 in overtime in the first round of the 2015 Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas. Each of the past five games have been decided by five points or less.
 
    Southeastern is 30-22 at home against McNeese, having won 16 of the last 20 in the University Center.
 
    McNeese will be the eighth Louisiana school Southeastern has played in 2017-18. The Lions are 3-4 in those games, having defeated Centenary, Loyola (New Orleans) and Southern (New Orleans) at home and lost at Tulane, ULM and UL Lafayette and to Grambling State in the UC.
 
McNeese
    McNeese is averaging 77.2 points, third-best in the conference, since the start of league play and 74.1 points overall. The Cowboys are tied with Nicholls with a 48.1 field goal percentage in conference games, including a league-best 44.4 percent on 3s. Overall, McNeese is shooting 42.1 percent, 34.1 percent on 3s and 70.6 percent from the line.
 
    Defensively, the Cowboys are allowing 76.7 points on 44.5 percent shooting. McNeese ranks second in the conference with 39.5 per game while giving up 38.3.
 
    Kalob Ledoux leads the Cowboys and ranks 15th in the conference with 13.1 points per game. He is sixth with 2.2 3-pointers per game. Greenwood, who sat out the Nicholls game to rest an aggravated groin pull, is third in the league in free throw percentage at 84.2 percent while averaging 12.2 points.
 
    Harvey, an Amite native, is making 40.2 percent of his 3s, 11th in the Southland, while averaging 12.1 points. Wilson is the conference's rebound leader (9.3 rpg) and is seventh in field goal percentage (.535) in averaging 10.1 points.
 
    Ledoux, Greenwood, Harvey, Wilson and Ugochuckwu (8.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg) are the expected starters for McNeese.
 
    Dave Simmons is in his 12th season as head coach of the Cowboys.
 
QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
On McNeese:
    "McNeese is one of the most talented teams in our league and they are very, very close – literally a handful of possessions away – from being 5-0. In all three of their losses, they led those games going into the second half. They are very, very good and are a very experienced team so we are going to have our hands full just to be competitive with them."
 
On looking to extend the win streak to five:
    "It's always great, especially from the fans' perspective, for us to do things we've never done before. But we just want to keep things in perspective and approach every game like it's the most important game of the season and that is what we are trying to do."
 
On the team's defensive improvement in conference play:
    "We work very hard. I think one of the benefits of playing as rigorous a schedule as we've played, you have to improve defensively. There were a few times we didn't play Southeastern defense. It's not a coincidence that when you play good defense, you are going to have a chance to win. The stat that we gauge ourselves on is opponent field goal percentage and we obviously have to keep that. But we certainly will be challenged against a very talented offensive ballclub."
 
UP NEXT:
   Southeastern continues the home stand Wednesday against Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. in the University Center. Southeastern Athletics will host a Welcome Back tailgate outside of the UC with food and music heading into tip-off with the Huskies as part of the university-wide Winter Welcome initiative. The contest will also be a Greek Challenge, as SLU fraternities and sororities can compete by downloading the LionUp Loyalty app.