Game 26 | Nicholls (15-10, 9-5 SLC) at Southeastern (16-9, 10-4 SLC)
Feb. 15, 2025 | 3:30 p.m. | University Center (7,500) | Hammond, La.
Series History: SLU leads, 58-55
Last Meeting: NICH 67, SLU 64 (Dec. 5, 2024 – Thibodaux, La.)
Television: ESPN+
Radio: None
 
Game 27 | McNeese (19-6, 13-1 SLC) at Southeastern (16-9, 10-4 SLC)
Feb. 17, 2025 | 6 p.m. | University Center (7,500) | Hammond, La.
Series History: McN leads, 70-55
Last Meeting: McN 79, SLU 51 (Dec. 30, 2024 – Lake Charles, La.)
Television: ESPN+
Radio: 90.9 FM The Lion

HAMMOND, La. – With six games remaining in the regular season, the Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team, winners of four-straight, begins a crucial four-game homestand which will play a big role in determine postseason seeding, starting this weekend as Nicholls and McNeese come to Hammond, America.
 
The Lions (16-9, 10-4 SLC) will be looking to earn splits in the season series with both the Colonels (15-10, 9-5 SLC) and Cowboys (19-6, 13-1 SLC) after dropping games on the road to both back in December.

Saturday's game against Nicholls will tip-off at 3:30 p.m., or about 30 minutes following the end of the women's game, and it'll be alumni day where we welcome back and honor previous members of the SLU men's basketball team. Monday's game against McNeese is set for a 6 p.m. tip and it'll be Greek night, inviting all members of the SLU Greek community to show up and be loud to cheer on the Lions.
 
Both games will be televised on ESPN+ while only Monday's game will have a radio broadcast, 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 or the MyTuner Radio app. Live stats will also be available on LionSports.net.
 
Southeastern looks to keep the good times rolling, having won 10 of its last 11 contests, including the last four in a row which is currently the longest win streak in the Southland Conference. SLU's last contest, a 69-60 win at Houston Christian, avenged the lone loss during this current 10-1 stretch.
 
In the win over the Huskies, Jakevion Buckley, the reigning SLC Player of the Week, continued the run of play that earned him the award by making seven of his 10 shot attempts and made 11 of his 13 free throw attempts on his way to 25 points while grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out an assist, and coming up with a steal.
 
Sam Hines, Jr. scored 12 points with four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals in the win over HCU. Brody Rowbury contributed 11 points and eight rebounds while Jeremy Elyzee also scored 11 points with six rebounds, two steals, and an assist in the win over the Huskies.
 
Hines, Jr. is SLU's top scorer and rebounder, averaging 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds a game heading into the week. He has hit half of the shots he's taken all season long while being a 39 percent three-point shooter on the year. He also has 50 assists and 14 blocked shots on the season.
 
After back-to-back 20-point performances, Buckley is now averaging 14.2 points per game while securing 4.5 rebounds a game and averages a team-leading four assists a game. He hits 47.3 percent from the field and leads the team with 47 steals on the year.
 
Elyzee puts in 9.7 points per game on 49.4 percent shooting while securing 4.7 rebounds per game and leads the team in blocked shots, having swatted away 16 opposing shots on the year.
 
Brody Rowbury has the presence down low, averaging 7.5 points on 51.3 percent shooting while grabbing 5.8 rebounds a contest.
 
Kam Burton is SLU's top outside threat, scoring 7.3 points per game on 38.3 percent shooting. He has connected on 43 three-point field goals this season, the most on the team, while hitting on 34.7 percent from beyond the arc in 2024.25.
 
The Lions score 72.4 points per game on the season while hitting 45 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range as a team. Southeastern allows opponents to score 68.4 points per game while hitting 42.4 percent overall and 30.8 percent from above the arc.
 
Nicholls comes into Saturday's game in Hammond looking to bounce back after their four-game win streak was ended by Northwestern State, 72-60, on Monday night in Thibodaux. The Colonels struggled shooting from the field in the loss, especially in the second half where they scored 27 points, made eight field goals, and hit 25 percent of their shots in the last 20 minutes.
 
Michael Gray, Jr. came off the bench to lead Nicholls in scoring against the Demons, putting in 19 points as he made four three-pointers in the contest.
 
Sincere Malone scored 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds, had three steals, and an assist to lead the starting five. Jamal West, Jr. hit four of his six shot attempts and finished with 12 points while getting six rebounds, giving out a pair of assists, blocking a shot, and coming up with a steal.
 
Byron Ireland is Nicholls' top scorer, averaging 12.5 points per game while hitting 41.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent on three-point field goal attempts. He's also the team's top distributor, averaging 2.9 assists per game.
 
Robert Brown, III scores 12.3 points per game on 39.5 percent shooting. He's the top three-point threat for the Colonels, having hit 57 on the season at a 34.3 percent clip on the year. He secures 3.1 rebounds per game as well.
 
West Jr. puts in 11.2 points per game on 50.8 percent shooting. He leads Nicholls in rebounding, averaging six a game, and blocked shots, averaging 1.6 per contest.
 
Gray, Jr. averages 11 points per game while hitting 41.3 percent from the field. He's also a three-point threat, having his 50 on the year at a 39.1 percent clip from above the arc.
 
Nicholls averages 73.8 points per game while hitting 42.6 percent from the field and 33.6 percent on three-point field goal attempts. The Colonels allow 69.4 points per game while their opponents hit 41.5 percent from the field and 29.1 percent on three-point shots this season.
 
McNeese enters its game Saturday at New Orleans winners of three-straight and holding a three-game lead in the conference standings. With six games to play, the Cowboys are currently the only team to have already officially punched their ticket to the 2025 Southland Conference Championships.
 
The Cowboys are coming off of a dominant performance in the second half against East Texas A&M on Monday, turning a five-point halftime deficit into a 16-point win after outscoring ETAMU 45-24 in the final 20 minutes.
 
Christian Shumate led the way in Monday's win with 19 points and 14 rebounds, going nine-of-14 from the field, including hitting his lone three-point attempt, while also giving out three assists.
 
DJ Richards, Jr. had 12 points on four-of-six shooting, all of which were from above the three-point arc. Joe Charles had 11 points and seven rebounds while Javohn Garcia ended the night with nine points and six rebounds.
 
Garcia is the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.5 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting and 36 percent on three-point attempts. He also averages the most steals, 1.6 for McNeese this season.
 
Sincere Parker comes off the bench to average 12 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting and 28.3 percent from three-point range. He also grabs 2.5 rebounds per game.
 
Shumate scores 10.2 points per game on 58.7 percent shooting and 31.3 percent on three-point attempts. He secures 6.4 rebounds per game while leading the Cowboys in blocks, averaging 1.2 a contest.
 
Richards, Jr. averages 9.1 points per game on 40.1 percent shooting. He's McNeese's top three-point threat, having hit 58 on the year while hitting 39.5 percent from deep.
 
Quadir Copeland scores nine points per game on 49.4 percent shooting and is McNeese's top distributor, averaging 4.2 assists per game.
 
Charles scores 8.7 points on 46.2 percent shooting and 35.2 percent from deep while grabbing a team-best 6.7 rebounds a game.
 
Brandon Murray averages 7.1 points per game and hits 49.1 percent from the field on the year.
 
The Cowboys score 76 points per game and hit 47.6 percent from the field while connecting on 34 percent from three-point range. McNeese's opponents average 63.9 points per game and hit 40.6 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range on the year.
 
Following this weekend's action, the Lions close out the home portion of their schedule next weekend by hosting East Texas A&M for Senior Day and with the final home game being against Northwestern State on jersey night.
 
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.