BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's basketball team rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit but couldn't overcome 28 turnovers falling to New Orleans (5-7/1-0 Southland), 68-64, Monday evening in the Montagne Center. The loss ended the Cardinals (9-5/1-1 SLC) modest four-game win streak.
 
Winners in seven of their last eight entering the night, LU's offense never found its rhythm turning the ball over 18 times in the first half. Led by 18 points from Kevin Hill, the Privateers cashed in the LU mistakes for 31 points. Hill also grabbed 10 rebounds to lead his team in both categories.
 
Big Red entered the night as the Southland's top scoring offense, but was held to less than 37 percent from the field. With the offense struggling to maintain control of the ball LU turned to its defense which held New Orleans to a 23-of-68 (.338) performance, including 6-of-16 (.375) from beyond the arc.
 
The Cardinals once again dominated the glass outrebounding UNO by 11, 52-41, but was unable to convert that into an advantage in second chance points. LU finished the night minus five (17-12) to the Privateers in that category.
 
"We lost to a gritty New Orleans team tonight," said head coach Tic Price. "Tonight you saw inexperience against an experienced team – (UNO) has played together for a year or two. At the end of the day, I'm proud of my players because they never quit. We could have folded our tent but continued to fight. We had the two guys at the end of the game shooting who we wanted – Dontavious Sears and Nick Garth can both hit the three – tonight the shots didn't fall. If those shots fall it's a different story because now they feel the pressure to score. We missed our shots and UNO never felt the pressure to score.
 
"At the end of the day we dug a deep hole, but our kids didn't quit. Bottom line, we didn't win tonight because we turned the ball over too many times," added Price.
 
The Cardinals were fighting an uphill battle all night and never wrestled the lead away from UNO. The Cardinals went into the locker room trailing by eight points and watched the deficit balloon to as many as 12 points twice in the second half. Following a Cameron Reed three-pointer which gave the visitors their second 12-point advantage of the half, LU answered with a three-pointer from freshman Nick Garth.
 
After the getting the ball back, Garth buried another of his four three-pointers on the night to pull the Cards within six. Beaumont's Michael Zeno hit a layup with four minutes on the clock to give UNO a six-point advantage but Preston Mattingly brought the crowd to its feet on the next trip down the floor.
 
The Evansville, Ind. native popped open at the top of the key and buried his first three-point attempt of the season to pull the Cardinals within three, 64-61, with 3:21 remaining. That deficit was trimmed to one moments later as sophomore Kevin Booze hit a layup. After getting the ball back Booze was sent to the foul line to shoot two. After hitting the first to tie the game, Booze's second attempt bounced off the rim but the rebound was pulled down by freshman Josh Nzeakor. The Cardinals attempt at their first lead of the game was turned away moments later by another turnover. The Privateers scored the game's final four points following the turnover to pick up the win.
 
Garth led the Cardinals with 15 points as LU finished its second consecutive game with three players in double digits, all coming off the bench. Senior Dontavious Sears added 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, while Booze chipped in 12. Nzeakor pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
The Red and White returns to action Saturday when they travel to Conway, Ark., to face Central Arkansas. The game against the Bears is slated to tip off at 4 p.m.
 
-LU CARDINALS-