HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team kicks off its 2023-24 season on Monday as the Lions welcome in NCAA Division II side Delta State in the regular season and home opener at the Pride Roofing University Center.
 
Tip-off of Monday's game between the Lions (0-0) and the Statesmen (0-0) is set for 6:00 p.m. and it will be live streamed on ESPN+. Radio coverage of the game will be available on KSLU 90.9 FM in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive. Live stats will also be available on LionSports.net. It will also be Lion Slam night with plenty of fun activities for everyone to enjoy.
 
Southeastern enters the 2023-24 season with plenty of optimism after the team was picked to win the Southland Conference by the conference's coaches and sports information personnel. The Lions bring back a solid core of veterans ready to improve on last season's third place finish in the SLC standings with several new faces which should immediately aid in the goal of achieving the high expectations put on the squad.
 
Inside, SLU will rely on the size of Brody Rowbury in close while Nick Caldwell will also work in the post but also have the added responsibility of stretching defenses with his three-point shooting capabilities. Alec Woodard and his high percentage from above the arc is also back while the one of the best rebounding guards in Roger McFarlane will be causing havoc around the rim as well. Making it all work will be returning point guard Roscoe Eastmond, who will be looking to facilitate and get the ball into the best positions to score. Avery Wilson looks to take to the floor after several lost seasons due to injury and Max Brackmann will look to make his mark after missing most of last season due to injury as well.
 
Several key transfers will look to make an immediate impact, led by Dylan Canoville. Canoville was a NJCAA All-American in his lone season at Copiah-Lincoln before making the move to Southeastern. Joe Mpoyo was also recognized nationally in the junior college ranks last season, being named a NJCAA All-American honorable mention before making his way to Hammond, America from Dawson Community College in Montana. Mpoyo was once high school teammates with Rowbury. From the Division I ranks, the Lions added Carlos Paez, a graduate point guard who is already used to passing to Woodard as the two were teammates at Austin Peay. Another point guard added to the roster this season is Anthony Bittar, who came over from the NAIA's Florida College, a team that made the national championship tournament both seasons he was there.
 
True freshman trying to make their mark in their first year of college ball includes Kam Burton, Jason Malbrue, Tyrell Yates, Asher Boney, and Dominic Commisso.
 
Delta State is looking to improve from the 2022-23 season where they finished 7-20 overall and 6-18 in the Gulf South Conference and failed to qualify for the GSC Tournament. The Statesmen were picked to finish 10^th in the GSC preseason poll.
 
DSU will be led by Maalik Cartwright, a second team All-GSC selection a season ago where he averaged 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while hitting nearly 56% of his shots. Kelen Dietrich is the next best returning player for DSU, having averaged 12.2 points per game last year while hitting a team-best 75 three-pointers.
 
This will be the lone home game for the Lions prior to Thanksgiving as Southeastern will head on the road for five-straight games through the holiday before returning home on November 28^th. SLU's five-game road trip starts next Friday against the SEC's Auburn Tigers, the first of three games against major conference institutions, two of which coming against members of the Southeastern Conference.
 
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.