HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team ends its 2023-24 regular season on its home floor as four seniors will be celebrated on senior night when Nicholls comes to Hammond for the season finale Thursday night at the Pride Roofing University Center.
 
The game between Southeastern (15-15, 10-7 SLC) and Nicholls (17-13, 12-5 SLC) is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m., or about 30 minutes after the end of the women's game, in the Pride Roofing University Center with the senior day presentation taking place prior to tip as we induct Avery Wilson, Roscoe Eastmond, Alec Woodard, and Nick Caldwell as new Lions 4 Life. The game 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 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 LionSports.net.
 
The Lions enter the game locked into the five-seed in the upcoming 2024 Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Basketball Championships presented by Explore Louisiana while the Colonels will likely be trying to secure the three-seed with a win while a loss could lock Nicholls into the four-seed in the tournament. SLU will be looking to avenge a loss in this season's earlier meeting between the two teams as Nicholls won the game down in Thibodaux, 66-61, on Jan. 9^th.
 
Southeastern enters its regular season finale winners of nine out of its last 12 games, coming off a 73-56 victory on Monday night at Incarnate Word in the final road game of the regular season. Brody Rowbury picked up the first 20-point game of his collegiate career on a near-perfect night for the sophomore forward as he hit all seven of his shot attempts and was six-of-seven at the free throw line. Caldwell rebounded from Saturday's game by scoring 18 points on Monday, hitting both of his three-point attempts while hitting eight free throws. Kam Burton came off the bench to hit five threes for 15 points in Monday's win. Roger McFarlane picked up his 10^th double-double of the season by scoring 11 points while grabbing 12 rebounds against the Cardinals.
 
Caldwell continues on as Southeastern's top scorer, averaging 15.8 points per game, and top shot blocker, averaging 0.8 rejections per game. He hits 53.6% of his shots and 42.1% on three-point shots and grabs 5.5 rebounds per game.
 
McFarlane averages 14.8 points per game while leading the Lions in rebounding at8.7 boards per game. He hits 41.4% of his shot attempts and 34.2% of his attempts from above the three-point arc.
 
Eastmond continues to be the Southland's top distributor, averaging 6.6 assists per game on the season while scoring 7.9 points a game. He surpassed the 500 career assists milestone, sitting at 511 assists on the division one level heading into Thursday's game, while his 198 assists during the 2023-24 season, heading into the regular season finale, are the second-most in SLU program history, nine off of the current record of 207 held by Marlain Veal in the 2017-18 season.
 
Nicholls comes into Thursday's contest having won four of its last five contests, including its most recent game, a 68-62 win over Northwestern State in Natchitoches, which clinched the Colonels a single-bye in the SLC Tournament.
 
Robert Brown III led Nicholls against NSU, scoring 21 points as he hit eight buckets, five coming from beyond the arc on seven three-point attempts. Diante Smith neared a double-double with 18 points and nine assists on Monday. Smith hit five field goals in the contest against the Demons, three coming from three-point range. Byron Ireland hit four shots, including a three, to finish Monday's game with 12 points. The Colonels defense held the Demons to just 33.9% shooting in the contest in the win.
 
Smith is Nicholls' top scorer, distributor, and thief. He averages 15.5 points, 3.2 assists, and two steals per game while shooting at a 40.9% clip and 39.8% from three on the year. He also grabs 6.6 rebounds a contest.
 
Jamal West, Jr., who had eight points and six rebounds Monday against NSU, is next on the scoring list for the Colonels. He averages 13.8 points per game on 50.7% shooting while leading Nicholls in rebounding, with 7.5 boards, and blocks, with 1.8 rejections a contest.
 
Brown III scores 13.5 points each time out on 42% shooting and 39.5% from deep. He also grabs 3.1 rebounds a game.
 
Ireland rounds out the leading scorers for the Colonels heading into the season finale, averaging 11.7 points while also grabbing 4.3 rebounds a game. He hits 42.8% of his shots, connecting on 33.3% of his attempts from above the three-point arc.
 
Southeastern leads the all-time series over Nicholls 60-53, though the Lions will be looking to avoid a second-straight season sweep at the hands of the Colonels as Nicholls has won three-straight in the series.
 
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.