HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team looks to officially secure its spot in the 2023 Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Basketball Championships presented by Louisiana Travel this week when it goes to the tournament's host site, McNeese, on Thursday before hosting Nicholls on Saturday.
 
Southeastern (14-10, 8-3 SLC) can officially clinch a berth in the conference postseason tournament this week with two wins and a loss by both Lamar and New Orleans or one win and a pair of losses by both of those aforementioned teams.
 
SLU is looking to get back in the win column after Saturday's 83-72 home loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Lions suffered significantly in the first half, hitting just 32.9% from the field while the Islanders hit on 50% of their shots in the period to jump out to a 20-point halftime lead. Roger McFarlane hit a career high five three-pointers, including a stretch of three straight early in the second half to try to pull Southeastern back into the contest, as he finished with a career high 28 points in Saturday's contest. Boogie Anderson and Nick Caldwell both finished with 14 points to round out the leading scorers from the game against A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
Anderson now averages 13 points per game on the season while hitting on 47.6% of his shots. He also leads the team in assists at 4.2 per game and steals at 1.4 per game. Caldwell continues to have a career season, now averaging 11.3 points per game on 53.5% shooting and leads the Lions in blocked shots, averaging 0.8 per game. After his career day on Saturday, McFarlane now averages 11.1 points per game this year and leads SLU in rebounding, grabbing 7.9 boards per contest.
 
SLU averages 77.8 points per game on 45% shooting on the year and hit 36.3% from three. Southeastern's opponents average 76.5 points per game this year, hitting 46.3% from the field and 38.4% from long range.
 
On Thursday night, the Lions head down to Lake Charles and the Legacy Center, where the basketball championship tournament will be held this season, for a date with McNeese State. McNeese (5-19, 2-9 SLC) comes into Thursday's game desperately looking to end a nine-game losing streak which came immediately after the Cowboys jumped out to a 2-0 start in Southland Conference play.
 
In their most recent contest, a 60-58 road loss to Texas A&M-Commerce, Christian Shumate led the way for the Cowboys with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Donovan Oday came off the bench and scored 14 points in their contest on Saturday.
 
Shumate leads McNeese in both points and rebounds as he averages near a double-double on the season at 12.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while hitting 55.2% of his shots this season. Zach Scott averages 11.2 points and his 46 made three-pointers is tied for the most on the Cowboys team. Trae English averages 10.6 points per game while leading McNeese in assist at 3.7 per game.
 
The Cowboys score 67.4 points per game on the year on 42.7% shooting as a team, including 32.7% from three. McNeese's opponents average 75.1 points per game on 47% shooting and hit 40% from three-point range. Thursday's game between the Lions and Cowboys, the first meeting of the season between the two old rivals, will tip-off at 7:30 P.M. and will be live streamed on ESPN+.
 
On Saturday, SLU will look to avenge their 88-73 SLC-opening loss back in December at the hands of Nicholls when the Colonels (11-11, 6-4 SLC) make the return trip to Hammond for a game being presented by Tangipahoa Parish Tourism and will feature an autograph signing following the contest.
 
Pierce Spencer came up big for Nicholls in their most recent contest, a 92-91 road win on Saturday against Houston Christian. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the contest and down four, Spencer hit a three-pointer, rebounded his own miss after a HCU turnover and drew a foul, where he hit both free throws with just seconds left to give the Colonels the win. Spencer finished that game with 17 points, including all of Nicholls' last nine points to take the win. Marek Nelson led the Colonels with 23 points. Lance-Amir Paul and Latrell Jones each came off the bench to finish with 11 apiece.
 
Caleb Huffman leads the Colonels in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game on 53.7% shooting, including 41.1% from three. Jones is the only other Nicholls player averaging double figures on the year, putting in 14.7 points per game.
 
Nicholls averages 75.4 points per game this year on 45.6% shooting while hitting 34.4% from three-point range. The Colonels opponents score 72.9 points per game this season, hitting 44.7% from the field and 32.4% from above the arc on the year. Tip-off of Saturday's contest between the Lions and Colonels is set for 3:30 P.M. inside the University Center and will be live-streamed on ESPN+. The game will be presented by Tangipahoa Parish Tourism and fans can get their favorite hooper's autograph right after the game ends.
 
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.