BEAUMONT, Texas – Senior forward Dontavious Sears recorded a double-double during his first career start as the Lamar University Cardinals thumped UT Rio Grande Valley, 83-60, Wednesday evening in the Montagne Center. The victory ended a small two-game skid for the Cardinals (3-3/.500) on the season, as well as a three-game slide in the series to UTRGV (formerly known as Texas-Pan American).
 
"The best part about tonight's game is that we played well from start to finish," said head coach Tic Price. "We had four guys in double figures tonight, which came from better shot selection. Defensively, we put a lot of good pressure on them and had them back on their heels in the first half. We played at a high pace, which is what we felt we needed to do to win. They just played on Monday in Houston, so we felt like we needed to make this a game where we kept the pressure on them at both ends of the floor."
 
The Cardinals finished the night with four players in double digits led by freshman Nick Garth's 21 points on 6-of-10 (.600) shooting, including a 5-of-7 (.714) mark from beyond the arc. Sears added 11 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
 
Big Red shot 44 percent from the field, and kept a consistent pace throughout the contest. LU was 13-of-30 (.433) in the opening half, while knocking down 11-of-24 (.458) attempts in the final 20 minutes. The Cardinals finished the night 6-of-17 (.353) from three-point range, with most of the damage coming in the opening half (5-of-12/.417).
 
The Cardinals allowed their guests to have the lead for a total of 58 seconds in the opening half. Trailing by two points, Sears hit a layup to tie the game at 7-7, followed by a Kevin Booze layup to give Big Red the advantage with 16:09 remaining in the first half. It was a lead LU would not surrender as they pushed their advantage to 11 midway through the half.
 
After the Vaqueros' Shaquille Hines hit a jumper to cut the LU lead to nine, the Cards responded by rattling off a 12-1 run to take a 20-point advantage. The lead jumped to as many as 21 points in the opening half.
 
LU recorded one of its most dominant 20-minutes of basketball on the young season. In addition to holding UTRGV to 7-of-22 (.318) from the field, including just 1-of-6 (.167) from beyond the arc, LU outrebounded their guests by six. The Cardinals were dominant in the paint as well recording a 10-point advantage, while scoring 16 points off the 10 UTRGV turnovers. Big Red's bench also outscored the Vaqueros, 24-6, in the opening 20 mintues.
 
The was no let down in the second half, as the Cardinals opened the new stanza on a 18-6 run to push their advantage to more than 30 points. The Cardinals watched their lead climb to as many as 37 before UT Rio Grande Valley tried to chip away, but LU allowed the Vaqueros to get no closer than 24 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
The Cardinals emptied their bench Wednesday evening with every player, but one, recording at least a point. The LU reserves finished the night scoring 45 points, while rendering the UTRGV bench relatively ineffective (15 points).
 
Freshman Dorian Chatman continued his strong play in the low post scoring 14 points and pulled down five rebounds. Junior Marcus Owens came off the bench tonight to add 12 points and pull down five rebounds. Junior Lincoln Davis added seven points and pulled down seven rebounds.
 
"I was real proud of Dontavious (Sears) tonight," said Price. "He gave us a double-double in his first career start. I thought he did an excellent job. Nick Garth shot the ball really well tonight, and Dorian Chatman made his presence felt. He is coming along and really getting a feel for the game at this level. We needed this win tonight. I'm very proud of this team showing the ability to bounce back."
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they host Idaho State. The game against the Bengals will tip off at 8 pm from the Montagne Center.
 
-LU CARDINALS-