HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team ends its trip out west by playing its first game of the Emerald Coast Classic when the Lions head to California to take on Santa Clara on Saturday at the Leavey Center.
 
The game between the Lions (1-2) and Broncos (3-0) will tip off at 5:00 p.m. PST/7:00 p.m. CST on Saturday and it will be live streamed on ESPN+ with live stats also available online.
 
The Lions enter Saturday's match-up looking to get its first win on this current five-game road trip which started with two teams that received votes in both major polls. In its last game out, Southeastern fell to a barrage of threes by BYU, 105-48.
 
Roger McFarlane led the Lions in both scoring and rebounding in Wednesday's game at BYU, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven boards. Brody Rowbury was the lone other double-figure scorer against the Cougars, hitting seven of his nine free throw attempts on his way to a season-high 13 points on Wednesday. Alec Woodard scored nine points and grabbed four rebounds as well in the contest.
 
McFarlane continued to be SLU's top scorer and rebounder through three games on the season, currently averaging 17.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest. Rowbury's performance against BYU has pushed him above 10 points per game so far this season, now averaging 10.7 points per game while grabbing six rebounds a contest. Roscoe Eastmond averages exactly 10 points per game through three contests while leading the team in assists at 3.3 per game.
 
Following Wednesday's contest in Utah, the Lions now average 69.7 points per game on 43.5% shooting as a team. The squad's three-point percentage looks to rise again after it fell to 26.2% on the year following the tough outing in Provo.
 
Santa Clara, out of the West Coast Conference, went on the road for the first time this year in its last contest, and came back from Stanford with an 89-77 win over the Cardinal.
 
Adama-Alpha Bal led the Broncos against the Cardinal with 23 points and six rebounds while Carlos Marshall, Jr. scored 20 points of his own with five boards and four steals against Stanford. Johnny O'Neil scored 17 points with eight rebounds and three assists. Tyeree Bryan was the final double-figure scorer for Santa Clara against Stanford, putting in 11 points with four rebounds and a block.
 
Marshall, Jr. is on a torrid scoring pace to start the season for the Broncos, averaging 22.3 points per game through the first three contests of the year, hitting 71.4% of his shots, including 66.7% from above the three-point arc. Bal is averaging 14.3 points per game, making him the lone other Bronco to average double-digit scoring for SCU through three games on the year. Bal hits 45.2% of his shot attempts, including 40% from above the arc, and grabs 5.7 rebounds a contest. O'Neil is Santa Clara's top rebounder, averaging 6.3 boards per game while Francisco Caffaro grabs six rebounds a contest.
 
The Broncos score 82.7 points per game on this young season while hitting on 48.7% of their shots, including 36.5% from above the three-point arc. Santa Clara was picked to finish fifth in the nine-team WCC in the conference's preseason poll.
 
This game will be the first-ever meeting between Southeastern and Santa Clara, marking the second-straight opponent that SLU will face for the first time in program history. After going west of the Rockies for two-straight games, the Lions return to the south for the final two games of its five-game road trip next weekend at the Emerald Coast Classic in the Florida panhandle.
 
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.