HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team wants Lion fans to be in their Christmas sweater best, or worst depending on how one sees it, when it starts a two-game homestand which closes out the non-conference portion of the schedule as Grambling State comes to the Pride Roofing University Center Wednesday night.
 
Wednesday's game between the Lions (3-8) and Tigers (2-8) is set for 6:00 p.m. in the Pride Roofing University Center and it will be live streamed on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast available through the Southeastern Sports Radio Network on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive and LionUpRadio.org. The broadcast can also be heard on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneInRadio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available on LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern wrapped up a four-game road trip, and run of nine games out of 10 away from Hammond, America, in victorious fashion with a 61-55 win at Murray State on Saturday where SLU held the Racers to just five made field goals in the second half and none over the game's final 7:30 to pick up the team's first win away from home on the year.
 
Wednesday night's contest is shaping up to be an historic one for fifth-year senior Nick Caldwell as he is set to break the SLU career games played record when he makes his first appearance in the contest for the Lions. In Saturday's win, where he tied Marlain Veal's record of 132 career games played, Caldwell tied his season high with 23 points as he made eight of his 11 shot attempts, two of three from beyond the three-point arc, and four of his five free throw attempts against the Racers. He also grabbed a game high-tying nine rebounds against Murray State while also dishing out an assist and had a steal.
 
Roger McFarlane had his best shooting day of the season in Saturday's win at Murray State, going six-of-11 from the field, two-of-five from three, and hit both of his free throws to finish with 16 points while matching Caldwell's game-high nine rebounds.
 
Kam Burton had three timely three-point makes, accounting for all nine of his points as all five of his shot attempts on Saturday came from beyond the three-point arc. Burton also grabbed a rebound and was credited with a steal against Murray State.
 
Caldwell's run of scoring over the last five games has pulled into a tie with McFarlane for the team's top scoring average with both now averaging 13.5 points per game on the year. Caldwell connects on 55% of his shot attempts, including 44.4% from beyond the arc, while McFarlane scores on 40.6% of shots and 33.9% of his attempts from deep. McFarlane continues to be the team's top rebounder, grabbing 6.1 boards per game while Caldwell sits right behind him at 5.5 rebounds a contest. Roscoe Eastmond is the team's top distributor, getting four assists each time out while scoring 6.6 points per game on 40.8% shooting and 32.2% from three.
 
Southeastern averages 68 points per game on 41.7% shooting while hitting 31.9% from three as a team. Lions' opponents are averaging 75.2 points per game while hitting 45.1% from the field and 32.2% from beyond the arc on the year.
 
Much like SLU, Grambling State hasn't been home for a while as Wednesday's game will be the eighth in a nine-game road trip for the Tigers, a swing that is yet to produce a win for GSU as Grambling has lost its last seven contests.
 
Grambling's last contest was a 68-56 loss at Drake last Thursday. Outside shooting proved to be the downfall for the Tigers in that game as the Bulldogs hit 10 shots from outside the arc while GSU made just two from that distance.
 
Kintavious Dozier was Grambling's top scorer against Drake as he tallied 16 points for the Tigers on six-of-11 shooting while hitting four of his five attempts from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds, gave out an assist, and had a steal.
 
Antwan Burnett made his season debut for the Tigers last Thursday, scoring 15 points and hit five of his 12 shot attempts, including a three-pointer in four attempts from long range, and went four-of-six at the charity stripe. He also snagged five rebounds against Drake.
 
Jalen Johnson was a force near the rim against the Bulldogs, corralling 11 rebounds while also blocking a pair of Drake shot attempts.
 
Dozier is Grambling's top scorer on the year, averaging 14.5 points per game. He is currently hitting on 49% of his shot attempts and 25% from beyond the arc.
 
Johnson averages 10 points per game while connecting on 50% of his shots and grabs 4.3 rebounds each time out.
 
Jonathan Aku is the top big for the Tigers, grabbing a team-high 6.3 rebounds while blocking a shot every game. Tra'Michael Moton is Grambling's top distributor, averaging three assists a contest.
 
For the year, Grambling averages 66 points per game on 43.4% shooting and 25.5% from three as a team. GSU's opponents score 79.1 points per game on the year, hitting on 48.7% of its shot attempts and 41.8% from above the three-point arc.
 
This will be the 14^th all-time between Southeastern and Grambling. SLU currently leads the series 8-5, but the Tigers have won five of the last seven contests between the two after the Lions won the first six match-ups. The last time these two teams met, which occurred on Dec. 23, 2020, SLU snapped a three-game losing streak to GSU by going to Grambling and knocking off the Tigers 77-70.
 
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.