HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team kicks off the 2024-25 season on Monday, hosting the William Carey Crusaders at the University Center.
 
Tip-off of Monday's season opener between the Lions (0-0) and Crusaders (2-0) is set for 7:30 p.m. at the University Center, or about 30 minutes following the end of the women's basketball team's game against Millsaps. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and a radio broadcast will be available, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area and worldwide on LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, or you can listen to the game on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available on LionSports.net.
 
Monday's game will also be Lion Slam with plenty of activities, giveaways, and more available for fans in attendance.
 
"Our guys have been knocking each other down since mid-June, so we are really excited to see another team across from us," said SLU head men's basketball coach David Kiefer.
 
The season opener provides the first opportunity to see the new-look Southeastern Lions, who are re-tooling after losing four members of its 2023-24 starting line-up and more than 70 percent of its scoring output from a season ago.
 
While Brody Rowbury, Carlos Paez, Kam Burton, and Max Brackmann will bring the stability of last year's squad, along with the debuting Asher Boney, who redshirted a season ago for SLU, the order to pick up the pace this season will fall on the newcomers, such as South Florida transfer Sam Hines, Jr., Lamar transfer Jakevion Buckley, Texas-Rio Grande Valley transfer CJ Booker, and Long Island transfer Ahmed Essahaty, all of whom have Division I experience. Ryan Elzy brings three years of experience on the Division III level to Hammond for his final season.
 
Junior college transfer Thomas Tut will look to add to the excitement, as will another junior college transfer in Kyle Edison. Several freshmen will be looking to make a splash as well with Jeremy Elyzee and Caron Smith coming up straight from the high school ranks.
 
William Carey is already two games into its season as the NAIA tipped off its year this past weekend. The Crusaders proved victorious in both of its games at the Faulkner University Classic, beating Cumberland (Tenn.) 96-83 on Friday before dominating Paine (Ga.) 107-70 on Saturday.
 
Cam Brown led the Crusaders by averaging 22.5 points on 53.6 percent shooting, including 50 percent from three, while grabbing six rebounds a game over the weekend.

Chad Jones came off the bench to average 13.5 points on 57.9 percent shooting.
 
Makeem Roberts averaged nearly a double-double to start the season, finishing the two games at 10.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. He hit at a 61.5 percent clip. Javeon Gordon joined Roberts at 10.5 points per game while hitting 53.8 percent from the field and 60 percent from three.
 
Ankerion Gross put in 10 points per game while grabbing five rebounds a contest over the opening weekend. He hit 57.1 percent of his shots.
 
Dylan Brumfield was the facilitator, leading the team with 5.5 assists a contest over the weekend while scoring 9.5 points per himself.
 
"We are grateful to open up at home in front of our fane on Monday night," continued Kiefer. "But then it's time to hit the road and see what this team is made of."
 
Monday's game will be the only home game for the Lions for more than a month as SLU embarks on a 10-game road trip right after. That road trip starts as Southeastern heads to Alabama-Birmingham on Sun. Nov. 10. The team's next game in the University Center will be on Fri., Dec. 20 when Loyola-New Orleans comes to Hammond, America.
 
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.