HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana will travel out of the state for the final time during the 2017-18 regular season when the Lions visit Southland Conference rival Incarnate Word Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the McDermott Center in San Antonio, Texas.

    The game between the Lions (14-10, 8-3 Southland) and Cardinals (5-15, 0-10) can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. A link to live stats, provided by UIW, can be found on the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.

    Southeastern is tied with Sam Houston State (14-10, 8-3) for third in the Southland, a half-game back of Nicholls (14-9, 8-2) and New Orleans (12-11, 9-3).

    The Lions are coming off an 89-84 win over Central Arkansas on Saturday. Southeastern shot 66.7 percent in out-scoring the Bears 54-41 in the second half to rally from an eight-point halftime deficit. Senior forward Jordan Capps tied a career high with 12 field goals in leading the Lions with 26 points. Senior guard Eddy Polanco tied a Southeastern University Center record by going 11-for-11 from the free throw line in adding 19 points. Senior guard Joshua Filmore hit five 3-pointers in finishing with 18 points. Junior forward Moses Greenwood added 13 points off the bench. Junior guard Keith Charleston grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds while junior guard Marlain Veal set a career high with 11 assists.

    Southeastern enters the week as the Southland leader in scoring defense in league play, allowing 67.8 points per contest. Overall, the Lions are allowing 70.6 points while scoring an average of 72.0.

    Veal is the conference leader and ranks 20th nationally with 6.0 assists per game. He is also second in the league and 20th in the country with 2.25 steals per contest while averaging 12.0 points. Capps leads the Lions with 12.4 points per game while ranking ninth in the league in both field goal percentage (.521) and blocked shots (1.1 bpg). Greenwood is 12th in the conference in rebounding (6.2 rpg) while averaging 9.6 points per game. Filmore is tied for fifth in 3-pointers made per game (2.4).

    Veal, Greenwood, Filmore (9.1 ppg, 37 assists), senior forward James Currington (7.9 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 33 steals) and senior guard Jabbar Singleton (6.6 ppg, 56 assists) are the projected starters for the Lions. Polanco is averaging 8.7 points off the bench.

    UIW is wrapping up a three-game home stand against Southeastern on Wednesday. The Cardinals dropped a 56-51 decision to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in a defensive battle at home on Saturday. Senior guard Shawn Johnson and junior forward Charles Brown III each scored a game-high 14 points. Johnson also had a game-high nine rebounds while junior center Konstantin Kulikov added four blocks and seven rebounds.

    UIW comes into the game averaging 72.2 points per game while giving up 78.2 The Cardinals lead the conference in free throw shooting (72.5 percent) and blocked shots (5.4 bpg), ranking 21^st nationally in the latter.

    Brown leads UIW and ranks 16th in the Southland with 13.5 points per game. He is also sixth in free throw shooting at 81.7 percent, just behind teammate freshman forward Christian Peevy (81.8 percent). Johnson is second in the conference in blocks (1.8 bpg), 12th in 3-pointers made (1.8 per game) and 13th in steals (1.6 spg) while averaging 10.3 points.

    The projected starters for the Cardinals are Brown, Johnson, Kulikov (4.6 ppg, 16 blocks), graduate student guard Sam Burmeister (6.9 ppg) and freshman guard Cody Graham (4.9 ppg, 41 assists). Peevy (9.6 ppg) and junior forward Simi Socks (9.2 ppg) are the top scorers off the bench.
    
NOTES
   Southeastern and UIW will be meeting for just the fifth time on Wednesday. The Lions lead the series 3-1 after taking a 74-63 win in Hammond in 2017.
 
   Southeastern is 2-1 in games in Texas in 2017-18 with wins at Abilene Christian and Lamar and a loss at Sam Houston State.
 
   Southeastern's 8-3 start in Southland Conference play is tied with the 2003-04 squad for the second best through 11 games since joining the league in 1997-98. The 2004-05 team started 9-2.
 
   Southeastern is 6-7 on the road in 2017-18, the first time the Lions have won six road games since the 2007-08 season. Southeastern last won seven road games in 2004-05. Combined with the neutral site win over Mississippi Valley State in the Savannah Invitational, Southeastern has won seven games away from Hammond for the first time since the 2006-07 team won eight (5 road, 3 neutral).
 
   Ken Burmeister is in his 11th season as head coach of the Cardinals.
 
UP NEXT:
    Southeastern will look to avenge an earlier 71-62 loss at home to McNeese when the Lions travel to Lake Charles Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off.