HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team is spending its Thanksgiving holiday in the Sunshine State for the final two games of the annual Emerald Coast Classic with the Lions scheduled to take on Western Michigan on Friday with the result of that game determining Saturday's opponent and start time at the Raider Arena.
 
All games of the post-Thanksgiving weekend portion of the Emerald Coast Classic will take place at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida College in Niceville, Fla. and the entirety of the weekend's schedule will be live streamed on FloHoops with live stats available through the Emerald Coast Classic website. A radio broadcast of Southeastern's games in the Emerald Coast Classic will be available on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, or on your smart device though the Lions Gameday Experience app, TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app.
 
The Lions (1-3) will face the Broncos (0-4) at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. Should SLU defeat WMU on Friday, Saturday's game will be at 12:30 p.m. against the winner of Friday's 11:00 a.m. game of Tennessee State (4-1) vs. Mercer (1-3) while a loss Friday means a 10:00 a.m. tip on Saturday against the loser of that game between the Tigers and Bears.
 
Southeastern enters the main portion of the Emerald Coast Classic schedule coming off of a 65-63 loss in its Classic opener Saturday at Santa Clara. Four Lions scored in double figures in that game, led by Alec Woodard's 17-point, nine-rebound performance against the Broncos from California where he made his first start of the season. Nick Caldwell scored 14 in Saturday's game while Roger McFarlane added 13 points and a couple rebounds. Carlos Paez had his first double-digit scoring day for the Lions in Saturday's game, scoring 10 points.
 
Through four games this season, the Lions are averaging 68 points per game on 41.3% shooing while hitting 32.3% from above the three-point arc. SLU grabs 34 rebounds per contest heading into the weekend's action.
 
The Western Michigan Broncos are still looking for their first win of 2023-24, having dropped their Emerald Coast Classic opener last Friday, a 73-56 defeat at Ohio State. Seth Hubbard was the main threat for the Broncos against the Buckeyes, scoring 24 points in the loss. He was the lone WMU player to score 10 or more points against OSU.
 
Hubbard leads the Broncos on the year, averaging 17 points per game. B. Artis White averages 10 points per game, though he has played in just two games so far this season, and is the only other WMU player to average 10 or more points per game so far in 2023-24.
 
The Broncos average 65.3 points per game on the year, hitting 40.8% of their shots, including 34.7% from above the three-point arc. WMU grabs 39 rebounds per game, led by Anthony Crump's seven boards per contest while Titus Wright grabs 6.3 rebounds per game and Owen Lobsinger grabs five a game.
 
Should SLU face Tennessee State on Saturday, the Tigers are led by E.J. Bellinger, who averages 15.2 points per game on the season while Christian Brown averages 12.8 points per game and Marcus Fitzgerald, Jr. averages 10.4 points per game. TSU averages 77.6 points per game on 47.3% shooting, including 34.3% from three and grabs 37.4 rebounds a game.
 
If Saturday's opponent ends up being Mercer, the Bears are led by Jalyn McCreary who is averaging 14.8 points and six rebounds per game and hits on 51.1% of his shots. Robby Carmody averages 11 points per game on 52.2% shooting. The Bears average 65.8 points per game on 41.9% shooting as a team while hitting 27.3% of their shots from above the arc.
 
The two games at the Emerald Coast Classic this weekend represents the final two games of a five-game road trip for the Lions. Following these two games, SLU will be home on Tuesday night for a game against Southern-New Orleans, but then heads back out for four more away from home, three within the Louisiana border, before coming home for the last two non-conference games to close out the 2023 calendar year.
 
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.