Feb. 18, 2013

Current Lamar Game Notes

Current Nicholls Game Notes

BEAUMONT - If Lamar is to earn one of the eight spots in next month's Southland Conference Tournament, the Cardinals will have to put together a strong closing stretch beginning with Tuesday's men's basketball contest with Nicholls. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center.

After falling 69-62 at home to McNeese State on Saturday, Lamar stands at just 3-22 on the year and 1-12 in conference play. The Cardinals will likely need to win four of their final five conference games for the opportunity to defend their tournament championship.

Tuesday's contest can be heard live in Beaumont on KLVI 560 AM with Dave Hofferth providing the play-by-play, and will be streamed live on Lamar's web site at www.LamarCardinals.com/allaccess. It is also Military Appreciation Night at the Montagne Center and all military will receive free admission with a valid I.D.

This will be the 30th meeting between Lamar and Nicholls since 1951-52 when Lamar became a four-year institution and the Cardinals have dominated the series in Beaumont with a 15-1 advantage. The two teams split a pair of games last year with Lamar winning 80-56 at home and the Colonels taking the second game 72-63 in Thibodaux, La. Overall, Lamar has a 22-7 series lead.

In the last meeting, the Colonels built a 35-25 halftime lead by shooting 61.9 percent in the period while limiting the Cardinals to 23.1 percent shooting. Current senior Stan Brownhit back-to-back jumpers midway through the second half to pull the Cards to within three points at 46-43. However, the Colonels used an 11-1 run to push their lead to 57-44 with 5:31 to play and maintained control the rest of the way.

Lamar's Devon Lamb finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double. Anthony Miles added 15 points for the Cards and Mike Jamesfinished with 14. Brown, who was the only current Cardinal to score in the game, added 12 points and seven boards.

Dantrell Thomas finished with 21 points for Nicholls and Trevon Lewis came off the bench to finish 7-of-7 from the floor for 17 points and six rebounds.

The Cards come into the game averaging just over 58 points per game while allowing 76.0 to their opponents. Nicholls has similar defensive numbers, giving up 74.4 per contest. The Colonels are fourth in the Southland in scoring average at 66.6 points per game.

Lamar appears to have the advantage on the boards as the Cardinals are pulling down 36.4 per game to the Colonels' 31.4. Nicholls is being outrebounded by nearly five boards per game. The Cards are also fourth in the Southland in blocked shots at 4.1 per game.

As a team, Lamar is shooting 40.6 percent from the floor and the Colonels are at 43.1 percent. Both teams are solid at the free throw line with Lamar hitting 68.5 percent and Nicholls making 68.3 to rank third and fourth in the conference, respectively.

Brown leads Lamar in scoring and rebounding this year, averaging 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The fourth-year player is coming off an 11-point, 6-rebound effort against the Cowboys and is averaging 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds over his last five games.

Forward Rhon Mitchellis coming off his best Southland Conference game after scoring 18 points and pulling down seven rebounds against the Cowboys. The redshirt freshman, who is averaging 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line on Saturday.

Senior guard Donley Minoradded 14 points and four assists against McNeese, and is chipping in with 9.1 points and a team-best 3.4 assists per game.

Nicholls got off to a 5-3 start in Southland Conference play, but the Colonels have dropped their last five games and now stand 6-17 overall and 5-8 in league play. The Colonels are coming off an 84-79 home loss to Northwestern State on Saturday evening.

Senior guard Fred Hunter, who missed last season with an injury, is the leading scorer in the Southland Conference at 19.6 points per game. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound Hunter is shooting 55.7 percent from the field and grabbing 7.6 rebounds per game to rank fourth in the conference in both categories.

Thomas is adding 13.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while freshman guard T.J. Carpenter is posting 10.6 points per game. Carpenter has hit 34 3-pointers on the season to lead the team and his 1.8 makes per game from beyond the arc rank fourth in the conference.

For ticket information, call (409) 880-1715, or visit http://www.lamarcardinals.com/tickets/mhoops-tickets.html.

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