HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team will look to tie and then surpass its longest win streak of the season as it heads out on the road this weekend, looking to finish a season sweep of Northwestern State on Saturday before attempting to earn a split of the season series against Texas A&M-Commerce on Monday night.
 
Southeastern (10-13, 5-5 SLC) and Northwestern State (6-17, 4-6 SLC) will tip off at 3 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches while Monday's game against Texas A&M-Commerce (8-15, 2-8 SLC) will tip off at 7 p.m. in The Field House in Commerce, Texas. Both games will be live streamed on ESPN+ while a radio broadcast will be available, thanks to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network, on 90.9 FM The Lion in the Hammond/Ponchatoula area or worldwide at LionSports.net/ListenLive or LionUpRadio.org, and on smart devices through the Lions Gameday Experience app, the TuneIn Radio app, or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats for both contests will also be available on LionSports.net.
 
The Lions would secure their fifth season sweep of the Demons over the last seven seasons should SLU prove victorious on Saturday while a Demon win would garner the first split in the series between Southeastern and NSU since 2016-17. At the same time, Southeastern is trying to win its fourth-straight contest in Saturday's game while a victory would make it five wins out of its last six contests. The Lions won their third-straight game on Monday night with a 76-64 win over Incarnate Word.
 
Nick Caldwell and Roger McFarlane both scored 18 points in the win over UIW. Four of McFarlane's six made buckets in Monday's win over the Cardinals were from three-point range while he led the team in rebounding with seven boards in the win while adding an assist and a steal. Caldwell was eight-of-10 from the field against UIW, including making both of his shot attempts from above the three-point arc. He also secured five rebounds and have a pair of assists.
 
Alec Woodard made three of his four shot attempts from three while adding a couple layups to account for five-of-six shooting and 16 points on Monday night. He also contributed two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and blocked his first shot as a member of the green and gold.
 
Brody Rowbury locked down the paint in Monday's contest, earning his way to a career-best 12 free throw attempts, making a career-high nine of those attempts. He hit three shots as well to finish with 15 points while matching McFarlane's team-high rebounding total with seven boards as well along with an assist.
 
Roscoe Eastmond scored just three points on Monday night, but the best distributor in the conference continued to show he's deserving of that title as he tied his career high with 13 assists in the victory over UIW. The reigning Southland Conference Player of the Week also added three steals and two rebounds against the Cardinals.
 
McFarlane and Caldwell continue to battle to be the team's top scorer. McFarlane currently holds that top spot, averaging 14.8 points per game while continuing to lead the team in rebounding as well, grabbing eight boards as well. He hits 41.8% of his shots and 35.2% from three. Caldwell is right on his heels at 14.6 points per game while hitting 56.6% shooting and 43.5% from three. He leads the Lions in blocks as he swats away 0.7 opposing shots per contest while also securing 4.8 rebounds a game.
 
Eastmond has jumped his assists per game average up to six helpers each time out, having secured 137 of them so far this season. He just needs six more dimes this weekend to enter the top-10 of the most assists in a single season in SLU program history, and should quickly climb into the top-five of that list.
 
Southeastern averages 68.3 points per game this season while hitting 43.5% from the field and 34.3% from three as a team. The Lions surrender 70.4 points per game while SLU's opponents hit 44% from the field and 33.4% from above the arc.
 
Northwestern State enjoyed a three-game win streak heading the first meeting against SLU and was a game above .500 in the conference standings at the time, however, that result has sent the Demons on a skid which has seen NSU lose four out of its last five, including its most recent contest, a 73-66 loss on Monday at Nicholls.
 
Cliff Davis hit seven three-pointers in Monday's game against the Colonels, finishing with 25 points while grabbing three rebounds with three assists and a pair of steals.
 
Chase Forte earned 14 free throw attempts on Monday in Thibodaux, making eight of them on his way to 17 points against Nicholls. He hit four baskets, one being from deep, while getting four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
 
Duane Posey and Braelon Bush each finished with 11 points. Posey made four of his five shot attempts and led the Demons with six rebounds while dishing out three assists, blocked a shot, and came up with a steal. Bush came off the bench to hit four shots, two from distance, and had four assists.
 
Davis leads the Demons in scoring on the season, averaging 15.2 points per game while hitting 41.9% from the field and 42.2% from three.
 
Bush is the only other active player for NSU averaging double digits, putting in 10 points per game on 39.5% from the field and 28.9% from deep on the year.
 
Posey is the top active rebounder for the Demons, grabbing 4.4 boards a contest.
 
NSU averages 70.3 points per game and hits 43.4% from the field and 32.4% from above the arc on the season. Demon opponents average 78 points per game, hitting 46.7% of the shot attempts taken against NSU while connecting on 33.3% of three-point attempts.
 
One of SLU's most frequent foes in program history, the Demons hold an 89-58 lead in the all-time series against the Lions. The regular season series has resulted in a sweep in all of the last six seasons with Southeastern sweeping NSU in 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2021-22. During that span, the Demons swept the Lions twice, in 2020-21 and 2022-23. The Lions won the earlier meeting against NSU, 71-62, which kicked off SLU's current run of four wins out of five games.
 
Monday's opponent, Texas A&M-Commerce, has lost five of its last six contests since upending Southeastern in the Pride Roofing University Center last month, including back-to-back losses heading into this weekend's action where the A&M-Commerce Lions will host the New Orleans Privateers on Saturday before hosting the SLU Lions.
 
In its last contest, A&M-Commerce held tight against league-leader McNeese through the first half in Lake Charles, but wilted under a second half surge by the Cowboys in a 77-51 loss on Monday night at the Legacy Center.
 
Kwo Agwa and Tommie Lewis were the only Lions to reach double figures against McNeese on Monday with both ending the game with 10 points apiece. Agwa went three-of-seven from the field and four-of-seven at the free throw line for his 10 points while grabbing five rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Lewis hit three of his 11 shot attempts, two-of-seven from three, and was good on both of his free throw attempts while missing out on a double-double by one board, finishing with nine rebounds, had two assists and two steals to go with a blocked shot.
 
Kalen Williams leads the Lions in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per game while hitting 44.5% from the field and 29.8% from three while grabbing 3.1 rebounds a game. He's also the top distributor for the A&M-Commerce Lions, averaging 2.9 assists a contest.
 
Jerome Brewer, Jr. is still recovering from an injury suffered in the contest prior to the first meeting between the two pride of Lions, Sat., Jan. 13 against HCU. He is still one of A&M-Commerce's top scorers, averaging 14.1 points per game on 52.2% shooting and 29.4% from three while securing a team-high 4.6 rebounds and rejecting a team-best 1.4 opposing shots per game.
 
Lewis is the final Lion averaging in double figures on the year, scoring 12 points each time out while hitting on 42.4% of his shot attempts with most of his makes coming from deep as he hits on 36.8% of his three-point attempts. He also grabs 4.2 rebounds a game.
 
Texas A&M-Commerce's win earlier this season against SLU, a 68-52 Commerce victory, was the first time the Lions of Commerce defeated the Lions of Hammond, coming in the fourth meeting between the two teams.
 
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.