HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team will hit the court twice this week, including Thursday night's Southland Conference opener, as the Lions take on Nicholls State on the road before coming home to play Troy.
 
Coming off a dominant win over Belhaven a week ago, the Lions (5-5, 0-0 SLC) look to start Southland play in a successful way on Thursday night as Southeastern heads to Thibodaux for a date with the Colonels. In the win over the Blazers last Wednesday, Nick Caldwell had his best night as a Lion, collecting his first double-double in nearly two calendar years while scoring a career high 23 points.
 
Boogie Anderson continues to lead Southeastern in scoring on the year, averaging 11.8 points, four assists, and three rebounds per game while shooting 50% this season. Christian Agnew averages 10.8 points per game with more than half of his attempts coming from above the three-point arc. Roscoe Eastmond, shooting 45% this season and 41.4% from above the arc, averages 10.1 points per game on the year. 11 of the 12 SLU players who have seen action this season are averaging more than five points per game this season. As a team, the Lions shoot 45.6% from the field and score 78.7 points per game while opponents shoot 45.1% from the field and score an average of 75.6 points against Southeastern.
 
Nicholls (4-5, 0-0 SLC) comes into Thursday's game looking to get to .500 overall for the first time this season after starting 0-3. In their last game, an 85-65 win over Rust College, Caleb Huffman scored a career high with 31 points while Marek Nelson notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Latrell Jones added 16 points in the win over the Bearcats.
 
Jones, a preseason All-Conference first team selection, leads the Colonels by averaging 15.8 points and five rebounds a game while shooting at 50%. Huffman is right on his tail in both categories, averaging 15.2 points and 4.9 rebounds a game with a better shooting percentage, 56.3%. Micah Thomas averages 12.1 points per game on 49.4% shooting, including 40% from three, while also leading the team in assists. The Colonels hit on 45.6% of their shots as a team while allowing opponents to this 45.3% from the field. Nicholls averages 79.1 points per game while allowing 75.7 points to their opponents so far this season.
 
Thursday's match-up with the Colonels is set for 7:00 P.M. at the David R. Stopher Gymnasium and will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Saturday, the Lions step back out of conference play for the first of their final three non-conference games of the season when Troy comes to Hammond.
 
The Trojans (7-4) started their season 6-1 before dropping three straight contests, a streak that was snapped in their last outing when they defeated Tennessee Tech 87-64 at home on Saturday.
 
In the win over the Golden Eagles, Troy shot 50% or better in both halves, including nearly 65% in the second half, as four Trojan players scored in double figures. Christyon Eugene came off the bench to lead all scorers with 17 points. Zay Williams threatened a double-double with 15 points and eight rebounds. Nelson Phillips added 13 points and Kieffer Punter contributed 12 points in the win.
 
Troy is led in scoring by Duke Miles, who is averaging 14 points per game, though he has played in just six of their 11 contests this season, having missed the last four straight. Phillips is the top scorer among the Trojans who have played all 11 games so far this season, averaging 13.2 points per game. Eugene has come off the bench in every game so far this season to average 12.2 points on 53.5% shooting. Aamer Muhammad rounds out Troy's leading scorers at 10.2 points per. Williams is lurking around the 10 point per game average, hitting 50.5% this season and averaging 9.8 points per.
 
Saturday's game against the Trojans is set for 1:00 P.M. in the University Center and will also be streamed on ESPN+.
 
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 @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.