Incarnate Word (6-17, 1-9 Southland) at Southeastern (11-13, 7-4 Southland)
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2019 | 7 p.m. | Hammond, La. | University Center (7,500)
Series History: Lions lead 4-1
Last Meeting: Lions 86, Incarnate Wood 68 – (Feb. 7, 2018 – San Antonio, Texas)
Television: None
Radio: None                                                  

Live Video/Audio

Live Stats
                                       
Southland Standings (As of Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019)

HAMMOND, La. – Winners of seven of their last eight games, the reigning Southland Conference champion Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball team is roaring as they return home to face Incarnate Word Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the University Center.
 
The Lions (11-13, 7-4 Southland) are coming off a long, but successful road trip defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Wednesday night and upending Central Arkansas Saturday afternoon.
 
SLU departed for Corpus Christi, Texas, Tuesday at noon and returned from the 537-mile trip Thursday morning at 6:15 a.m. The Lions, then, left for Conway, Arkansas, Friday at 1 p.m. and made the 400-mile drive back to the University Center arriving Saturday morning at 3 a.m. The week totaled 1874 miles and 33 hours on the bus.
 
"Everybody associated with the team put in so many hours last week," said fifth-year SLU men's head basketball coach Jay Ladner. "But what that really affects is our quality of practice. It's tough to get our guys on the schedule we want them on. But we weren't going to make any excuses, it is what it is and we were able to overcome it."
 
SLU enters Wednesday night's matchup with UIW a half game out of third place behind New Orleans (13-10, 8-4 Southland). The Lions will visit UNO Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
 
Incarnate Word (6-17, 1-9 Southland) has lost eight straight games entering Wednesday's contest. The Cardinals, however, have fought gamely in each. UIW led league-leading Sam Houston, 38-37, on the road with 12:53 to go before the Bearkats pulled away for the 66-52 win. The Cardinals also gave reigning Southland Tournament champion Stephen F. Austin all they could handle before falling, 74-71.
 
"Here's what you have to be careful about with them," said Ladner. "They have a new coach (Dr. Carson Cunningham) and a really talented group of young players mixed in with a couple of really good older players, for instance Charles Brown, a guy that we recruited out of high school and signed with Murray State. We couldn't do anything with him last year and he scored 27 points on us. But just as a whole, you have to be careful looking at their league record because they are kind of similar to us. They have lost some close games and the thing is there isn't a lot of difference between the top teams in the conference and the bottom teams. This is a very improved team regardless of their record and we will have our hands full Wednesday night."
 
UIW is balanced offensively with five guys averaging double figures during Southland play including Christian Peevy (13.2 ppg), Brown (12.1), Augustine Ene (11.3), Morgan Taylor (10.5) and Dwight Murray Jr. (10.0).
 
Marlain Veal, the program's all-time leader in games played (122), continues his move up the Southeastern record books. The New Orleans, Louisiana native sits third all-time in program scoring (1,544) and is just 41 points shy of catching Hank Washington for second (1,585).
 
Senior Moses Greenwood, second in SLU all-time games played (121), comes into Wednesday's game tied for eighth all-time in SLU scoring history (1,319) with Jerry Kelly (1979-83). Greenwood, the Sharon, Mississippi native, is just two points shy of moving into seventh place past Troy Green (1995-99).
 
Veal and Greenwood's contributions have been phenomenal but it was junior Von Julien who drew the praises of Ladner. The Reserve, Louisiana native scored eight points and had four assists against A&M-Corpus Christi and had seven points against Central Arkansas. The 6-0 guard had just two turnovers combined in both games.
 
"Von is becoming the spiritual leader and has been a floor general," said Ladner. "He is kind of the quarterback of the team and he did an incredible job in both games especially at Corpus Christi. It was so loud there that it was hard to give a whole lot of verbal instructions and he was huge communicating and quarterbacking us."
 
Wednesday is a Gold Out, as all fans are encouraged to wear gold to the Lions-Cardinals contest.
 
Wednesday is also a Cane's Challenge. If the Lions score 60 points or more, fans can take their game ticket or student coupon to their local participating Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers to receive a free combo with the purchase of another of equal or greater value.
 
A live video stream is available for LionVision subscribers at LionSports.Net/Watch. Live updates will be available on the Southeastern Athletics twitter page @sluathletics.
 
The Lions will be back in action Saturday at home against McNeese (7-16, 3-7 Southland) at 4 p.m.
 
Saturday's game can be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the Lions Game Day Experience, RadioFX and TuneIn Radio apps.

INSIDE SOUTHEASTERN BASKETBALL WITH JAY LADNER
Each Monday night at 7 p.m., beginning Jan. 7th, 'Inside Southeastern Basketball with Jay Ladner' broadcasts live on 90.9 KSLU from Rainbow Daiquiris at 14384 West Thomas Street. Talk college hoops with Coach Ladner and host Allen Waddell, cover the finer points of each game and preview upcoming games. If you can't join the crowd, you can submit a question at www.LionSports.net for the "Ask the Coach" segment. Inside Southeastern Basketball with Jay Ladner airs each Monday night during the Lions' Southland Conference schedule on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network.
 
HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners.  All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @SLU_Hoops and @CoachLadner on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.