COMMERCE – The East Texas A&M University men's basketball team is in Lake Charles on Friday night to begin Southland Conference play against the two-time defending champion, McNeese. 

WHO: East Texas A&M at McNeese
WHERE: Lake Charles, La. | Townsley Law Arena
WHEN: Friday, December 12 | 7:30 p.m.
RECORDS: East Texas A&M is 5-4 on the season and yet to play a Southland opponent, while McNeese is 8-2 overall and 1-1 in SLC action.  

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network – KETR 88.9 FM (http://www.ketr.org)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ | https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/eventCalendarId/401808702
LIVE STATS: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=612909&vislive=tame
GAME NOTES: ETAMU | MCN

A NEW ERA OF LION BASKETBALL BEGINS
• East Texas A&M is now a full Division I member, achieving full member status a year ahead of schedule, and is eligible to compete in the NCAA Tournament this season.
• The Lions also debut their new Nike uniforms, being the only school in the Southland that is outfitted by Nike.

LIONS CONTINUE RUN WITH WIN OVER UCA
• East Texas A&M continued a stretch of four wins in five games on Sunday night with a win over Central Arkansas.
• The Lions have now won five games this season, which is tied for the five games won last season.
• With one non-conference game to go, the Lions have three wins over Division I non-conference opponents, which is tied for the most in the Division I era.

LIONS FALL TO HUSKIES IN STORRS
• Going into the game with a three-game winning streak, East Texas A&M fell to No. 5/5 UConn last week.
• The three-game winning streak was the longest for the program since winning three in a row over Science & Arts, Saint Joseph's, and Stonehill in 2023-24.
• This was the fourth time in the Division I era that the Lions have won three in a row, but have not yet recorded a four-game winning streak over the past four seasons.

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST THE COWBOYS
• Friday is the 22nd meeting between the Lions and the Cowboys, who hold a 13-8 advantage in the series coming in.
• The Lions have lost the last five meetings, with the last win coming in 2023 in Commerce.
• All-time, the Lions are 5-10 in Lake Charles, and 1-3 in the Division I era.

BEGINNING SOUTHLAND ACTION
• The Lions play their first game against a Southland opponent on Friday.
• East Texas A&M is 1-2 in SLC openers since joining the conference, having lost two in a row.
• The Lions began conference play against McNeese during the 2023-24 season, with the Cowboys winning 73-67 in Commerce.

FDU BASKETBALL CLASSIC CHAMPIONS
• The Lions downed Army on November 25 to go 2-0 at the FDU Basketball Classic, marking the first time the Lions went undefeated in a multi-team event in the Division I era.
• The last time that the Lions went 2-0 or better in a MTE was their own Lion Hoopsgiving in 2021-22 with wins over Mississippi College and Ouachita Baptist.

HUNT EARNS RECOGNITION FROM SLC
• Following the two wins in New Jersey, guard Gianni Hunt was named the Southland Player of the Week, averaging 14 points and 5.5 rebounds in the two wins.
• He is the first Lion to win the Southland Player of the Week award since Demarcus Demonia during the 2021-22 season, who is also the last Lion to earn all-conference honors following that season.
• Hunt earned honorable mention SLC Player of the Week honors after the games at UConn and Central Arkansas.

LIONS RECORD LARGEST D1 ERA COMEBACK TO BEAT THE KNIGHTS
• Trailing by as much 17, the Lions stormed back to win over FDU and pick up the first Division I win of the season.
• The 17-point comeback is the largest in the Division I era, surpassing a 15-point comeback win at McNeese in 2022-23.
• East Texas A&M shot 10 for 16 from deep in the second half.

FIRST NET RANKINGS RELEASED
• On Monday, the first edition of the NCAA NET Rankings were released for the season with the Lions debuting at No. 250, which is the highest for the Lions since starting the 2022-23 season being rated No. 203 in the initial NET rankings.
• The Lions are ranked No. 251 following Friday's game at UConn.

ASSISTS RECORD BROKEN AGAINST DALLAS CHRISTIAN
• The Lions totaled 41 assists in the win over Dallas Christian, which is a new program record, shattering the previous best of 36.
• The 41 assists raised the Lions' season average to 22.8 assists per game, which is second in the country.
• In the win over the Crusaders, East Texas A&M came one three-point attempt shy of tying the program record and the 115 points scored were fifth in program history.

RECORDS NEARLY FALL AGAINST THE PATRIOTS
• The season opening win on November 3 over Arlington Baptist was nearly one for the record books as the Lions totaled 35 assists, which is second in program history.
• East Texas A&M shot 63 percent from the field, which is also second in program history.

A WHOLE LOT OF NEW FACES
• This season's roster for the Lions features 11 newcomers as they return just five lettermen from last year's roster.
• Only two of the five normal starters return from a year ago as well.
• The returners for the Lions are Evan Phelps, Chris Adlam, Josh Taylor, Tay Mosher, and Mykol Sanchez-Vega.
• The Lion newcomer class of 11 comes from all levels of college basketball as well as prep basketball ranks.
• Four newcomers are Division I transfers, while one is from Division II, two from NAIA schools, three are from junior colleges, and one is a true freshmen.
• The four Division I transfers are the most for the program going into a season since 2023-24.

NEW FACES SHINE AGAINST ABU
• Four of the five starters in the win over Arlington Baptist were newcomers for the Lions, with Josh Taylor being the lone returners.
• Eight players reached double-digits in the game and all eight were newcomers, highlighted by 20 points from Ronnie Harrison and 17 points from Vinny Sigona.

HARRISON CONTINUES HOT START AT THE LOBOS
• In the loss at New Mexico on November 5, Harrison shot 6 for 12 from the field as well as 3 for 6 from deep to lead the way with 18 points and seven rebounds.
• He was the only Lions to reach double digits in the loss at the Lobos.

ADDITIONS TO THE COACHING STAFF
• Along with changes on the roster, the Lions welcome Texas college basketball veteran Clif Carroll to the bench this season as an assistant coach.

ABDUL-MATEEN MADE LION HISTORY
• Former Lion Khaliq Abdul-Mateen appeared in the game against Lamar on February 15 last season and played 15 minutes. With the appearance against the Cardinals, he set the program record for most career games played, having now played 126 games in his five-year Lion career.
• Larry McGhee, who played for the Lions in 1974-78 was the program leader with 125 games played coming into the season.

SUCCESS AGAINST DIVISION I OPPONENTS
• The Lions enter their fourth season in Division I competition and have recorded at least one win over a D1 non-conference opponent in each of the previous three seasons.
• East Texas A&M downed Air Force (road), Eastern Kentucky (neutral), and Hawaii (road) in 2022-23, while picking up wins over Saint Joseph's (road), Stonehill (home), and Northern Colorado (home) in 2023-24, and Southern (home) last season.

SEEING THEM AGAIN
• The Lions are playing two D1 non-conference opponents for the second time in the Division I era this season and an opponent for the third time.
• Next Sunday, East Texas A&M returns to Hawaii, where the Lions won 53-51 in 2022, and then play at UCONN on December 5, which the Huskies won 81-46.
• The final non-conference game of the season comes on December 21 at Texas A&M, which is the third straight season that the Lions and the Aggies meet in Reed Arena.

THE NATION WAS WATCHING LIONS VS. HUSKIES
• The game at UCONN last season was the first nationally televised game since 2022-23 for the Lions.
• At the time the Huskies, were ranked No. 2/2, which is the highest ranked team the Lions have played in the Division I era.

POSTSEASON WIN AT LAST
• After falling in the first round in each of the previous two conference tournaments, the Lions picked up the win over Northwestern State in the first round of the SLC Tournament in 2023-24, the program's first postseason win in the Division I era and first overall since 2019-20.
• The Lions fell to Nicholls in the quarterfinals, who went on to play in the SLC Championship Game.