HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team hosts Southland Conference rival Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for its 10^th annual "Jam the Jungle" promotion Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the University Center.

    Southeastern (13-9, 7-2 Southland ) moved into a second-place tie with Nicholls, a half-game back of New Orleans, with a 67-63 win over the Colonels in Thibodaux on Saturday. Junior forward Moses Greenwood had his second-straight 20-point effort while junior guard Marlain Veal added 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Senior guard Eddy Polanco led the team with six rebounds while contributing 11 points and four assists. Southeastern shot 49.0 percent overall, including 50 percent in the second half when the Lions rallied from a 10-point deficit.

    Corpus Christi (6-12, 3-5 Southland) won its second straight, 79-69, in overtime against Houston Baptist on Saturday. Senior guard Joseph Kilgore had the first triple-double in Islander history with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Sophomore guard Kareem South tossed in 23 points and had four steals while sophomore forward Elijah Schmidt added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Corpus Christi shot 49.2 percent for the game and held HBU without a field goal in the overtime period.

    The first 300 SLU students at Wednesday's game will receive free jambalaya and promotional items courtesy of Southeastern Athletics Student Marketing and Promotions. Southeastern students will also have the opportunity to win prizes.

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

    The game will be televised by Eleven Sports and simulcast on Cox Sports Television with a live stream at www.Southland.org/live. A link to live stats can be found on the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page.
  
NOTES
Southeastern
    Southeastern's 7-2 start in Southland Conference play is tied with the 2003-04 squad for the second best through nine games since joining the league in 1997-98. The 2004-05 team started 8-1.
 
    Southeastern picked up its 13th win on the season on Jan. 27, tying the 2004-05 team for the earliest date to reach that mark in school history.
 
    Veal needs 20 points to become the 18th player in Southeastern history with 1,000 career points. Brandon Fortenberry (1,348 points, 2008-13) was the last Lion to reach that milestone, picking up his 1,000th point at Florida on Dec. 19, 2012.
 
    Southeastern remains the conference leader in scoring defense (66.1 ppg) in league play after holding Nicholls to its season low in scoring. Overall, the Lions rank second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.326) and fifth in both scoring defense (70.1 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.438).
 
    Veal is the conference leader and ranks 27th nationally with 5.8 assists per game. He is also second in the league and 22nd in the country with 2.2 steals per contest.
 
    Greenwood, who received honorable mention Southland Player of the Week honors on Monday, is 10th in the conference in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and field goal percentage (.528).
 
    Veal (12.5 ppg), Greenwood (9.7 ppg), senior guard Joshua Filmore (8.6 ppg, 34 assists), senior forward James Currington (8.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 30 steals, 51.0 FG%) and senior guard Jabbar Singleton (6.8 ppg, 54 assists) are the projected starters for the Lions.
 
    Corpus Christi has won five straight against Southeastern to take a 10-3 lead in the series which dates back to the 2006-07 season. The Islanders won 80-75 at home in 2016-17. Southeastern's last win in the series came on Jan. 26, 2013, a 69-65 victory in Hammond. The Lions are 3-2 at home versus Corpus Christi.
 
 
Corpus Christi
    Kilgore, an honorable mention Southland Player of the Week recipient on Monday, is fourth in the league in scoring (17.1 ppg), seventh in steals (1.8 spg), eighth in free throw percentage (.809), 10th in assists (3.1 apg) and 12th in rebounding (6.1 rpg).
 
    South is also averaging in double figures with 10.0 points per game while recording 20 steals. Freshman forward Sean Rhea is averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds overall and 11.3 points and 6.5 boards in league action.
 
    Expected to start for Corpus Christi are Kilgore, South, Rhea, Schmidt (5.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and freshman guard Myles Smith (5.0 pgg, 27 assists).
 
    The Islanders rank 21st nationally in creating turnovers (16.39 per game) and 48th in steals (7.7 spg). They are third in the Southland in holding opponents to 43.4 percent shooting from the field.
 
    Willis Wilson is in his seventh season as the head coach at Corpus Christi.
 
QUOTES:
Southeastern head coach Jay Ladner:
On Corpus Christi...      
    "I have great respect for Coach Wilson. You can watch them on game film and they game plan every single game. They will play a little bit differently based on how the other team plays and their style of play. I have great respect for that. They are a really fast improving team. They've won two in a row and this will be a big game for them because they are back in the hunt now in terms of qualifying for the league tournament. They had a slow start but they may be the hottest team in the league right now. They have an outstanding team and may have one of the best players in the league in Joseph Kilgore and another great player in Kareem South. We're going to have our hands full Wednesday night."
 
UP NEXT:
    Southeastern welcomes in Central Arkansas Saturday at 5 p.m. for Local Heroes and Military Appreciation Day. All military personnel, first responders and local unit members will receive free admission with valid service ID.