Lions accept bid to The Basketball Classic, take on South Alabama on Wednesday

2022 The Basketball Classic Postseason Tournament – 1st Round
SLU Lions (19-14, 10-4 SLC) at South Alabama Jaguars (19-11, 9-7 Sun Belt)
Wednesday, March 16, 2021 | 7 p.m. CT | Mobile, Ala. | Mitchell Center
Series History: South Alabama Leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Jaguars 71, Lions 43 (Nov. 28, 2001 – Mobile, Alabama)
Watch: ESPN+
Live Audio: LionSports.net/listenlive.
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=sala

MOBILE, Ala. – The Southeastern Louisiana University men’s basketball team will face South Alabama in the first round of the inaugural 32-team The Basketball Classic postseason tournament presented by Eracism Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Mitchell Center.

TBC will use the old NIT model in which the field and matchups will be set after each round. TBC replaced the former CollegeInsider.Com Post Season Tournament, which was discontinued after its scheduled 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled because of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Lions (19-14, 9-4 Southland) are coming off a tough loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 73-65, in the Southland Conference Tournament Championship game Saturday night. SLU was led by Keon Clergeot with 18 points but the Lions were outscored 36-16 in the paint as the Islanders earned the NCAA Tournament bid.

Despite Saturday’s loss, SLU has set several program records this season under head coach David Kiefer. The Lions have scored 2,611 points which broke the record held by the 2017-18 Lions under head coach Jay Ladner of 2,439. Southeastern has also shattered the program record for three-pointers with 295, formerly held by the 2017-18 team with 250. The Lions have also broken a 49-year program record with 888 field goals, surpassing the previous mark of 886 held by the 1972-73 team under head coach E.W. Foy.

Southeastern will be making their third national postseason tournament appearance in school history Wednesday night. The Lions made the NCAA Tournament in 2005 under head coach Billy Kennedy after winning the Southland Tournament Title over Northwestern State. Then, SLU secured a spot in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in 2018 after winning the Southland Conference regular season crown under Ladner.

The Jaguars (19-11, 9-7 Sun belt) lost in the opening round of the Sunbelt Conference Tournament to Little Rock, 75-71, on March 3. USA, however, is 13-2 at home this year led by three All-Sunbelt selections. Jay Chandler and Charles Manning Jr. were both named to the league’s second team while Javon Franklin earned third team recognition.

Manning Jr. led the Jaguars in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game while Chandler is scoring 15.1 a game. Defensively, the Jaguars were third in the Sunbelt allowing just 63.2 points per game.

Wednesday is the second all-time meeting between SLU and USA but it’s been over 20 years since the teams matched up. The Jaguars defeated the Lions, 71-43, in Mobile back on Nov. 28, 2001.

Fans can watch the live broadcast of Wednesday’s game on ESPN+. The audio play-by-play of the contest will be available at LionSports.Net/ListenLive. Links to live stats will also be available at the Southeastern men’s basketball schedule page at LionSports.Net.

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.