Game 13 | Southeastern (6-6, 0-1 SLC) at McNeese (7-5, 1-0 SLC)
Dec. 30, 2024 | 6 p.m. | Legacy Center (4,242) | Lake Charles, La.
Series History: McNeese leads, 69-55
Last Meeting: SLU 77, McNeese 74 (2/3/24 – Hammond, La.)
Television: ESPN+
Radio: 90.9 FM The Lion

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team plays its final game of the 2024 calendar year by trying to upend the Southland Conference preseason favorites on the road when it travels to Lake Charles to take on the McNeese Cowboys Monday night at the Legacy Center.
 
Monday's game between the Lions (6-6, 0-1 SLC) and Cowboys (7-5, 1-0 SLC) is set for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast 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 through the host institution.
 
The Lions are looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season after dispatching Loyola-New Orleans, 96-62, on the Friday before Christmas. The win gave Southeastern its second run of back-to-back wins this season while the team completed its non-conference schedule with a winning record, 6-5, for the first time since the 2016-17 squad went 7-6 out of conference.
 
Jaiden Lawrence, 19 points, and Carlos Paez, 17 points, both had career days against the Wolf Pack. Lawrence hit his first three three-pointers as a Lion in the win over Loyola while Paez was nearly perfect, going six-of-seven from the field and hit all three of his three-point attempts in the win.
 
Sam Hines, Jr., who matched Lawrence's game-high total by also scoring 19 points in the victory over Loyola, ticked up his team-best scoring average to 15.6 points per game. He's back hitting more than half of his shot attempts, now shooting at a 51.1 percent clip on the season while at 42.9 percent from three-point range on the season. He also grabs a team-high 7.2 rebounds a game while also dishing out 2.3 assists per game.
 
While not shooting much against the Wolf Pack, Jakevion Buckley used his limited time on the court against Loyola in other ways, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and dishing out four assists, also the most on the team in the contest. He's now averaging 11.3 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting while his 4.4 assists per game is the most on the team. He's also securing 3.8 rebounds a game and his 1.8 steals per game is the highest on the squad.
 
Jeremy Elyzee is SLU's blocks leader with 10 this season. He's averaging 9.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, hitting 49.4 percent of his shots.
 
Kam Burton is Southeastern's top deep threat, having hit 29 three-point shots this season. He's averaging 9.2 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting and 42.6 percent from deep on the year.
 
Brody Rowbury hit all three of his shots in limited action against Loyola. He's averaging eight points and 5.2 rebounds a game. He's also back over 50 percent shooting on the season, hitting 50.8 percent from the field.
 
The Lions score 72.1 points per game this season while hitting 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range as a team. Southeastern's opponents average 67.3 points per game while hitting 41.7 percent from the field and 28.8 percent from three against the Lions.
 
McNeese enters Monday's game looking for its second three-game win streak of the season. The Cowboys started its SLC schedule on Saturday, knocking off New Orleans 86-61.
 
Five Cowboys scored in double digits against the Privateers, led by DJ Richards, Jr., who scored 21 points. He hit seven of his 15 shot attempts in the contest, all of which came from beyond the arc. Javohn Garcia had 18 points while Joe Charles put in 13. Bryant Selebangue came off the bench to score 12. Quadir Copeland tallied a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
 
Sincere Parker comes off the bench to lead the Cowboys in scoring at 14.8 points per game while hitting 50 percent of his shot attempts and securing 2.7 rebounds a game.
 
Garcia hits 42.5 percent of his shots on his way to 11.3 points per game while grabbing 2.6 rebounds and giving out 1.5 assists a game.
 
Christian Shumate hits 59 percent of his shots and scores 10.5 points per game while blocking 1.5 opposing shots per contest.
 
Richards, Jr. has the most made three-pointers on the team with 23 after his outburst against UNO. He's now averaging 7.3 points per game.
 
Copeland is the team's top distributor, averaging 2.8 assists per game while scoring 7.5 points and grabbing 4.4 rebounds.
 
McNeese averages 76.4 points per game, hitting 48.1 percent of its shot attempts and 30.5 percent from three-point range. Cowboy opponents average 66.3 points per game on 41.3 percent shooting and 33.2 percent from beyond the arc.
 
McNeese leads the all-time series against the Lions, 69-55, though Southeastern has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two sides. SLU and McNeese split their two meetings a season ago with the home team winning each contest.
 
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.