By Bob West
BEAUMONT — For Lamar University, there just could not have been a better time to have Lyon College roll into the Montagne Center.
Steve Roccaforte’s battered and bruised Cardinals, worn down from nine Southland Conference games that have mostly been down-to-the-wire nail biters, are physically and mentally weary. Unless something goes drastically wrong, they’ll get to add a W while giving the likes of Anthony Miles and Justin Nabors some much-needed rest.
Lyon, an NAIA school from Batesville, Ark., with an enrollment of 617, is your basic cupcake supreme. The Scots are 5-17 overall, have lost six straight and are 0-11 on the road. In visits to Beaumont the last two years, they taken it on the chin, 97-54, and 104-52.
Roc won’t violate the coaches code and call this one a gimme, but he admits he’d like nothing better than to rest key starters and get extended playing time for the likes of Donley Minor, Stan Brown, Justin Wesley and Donte Lopez.
“First and foremost, out goal is to win the game,” says the LU boss. “We won’t do anything to jeopardize that. If we take care of business, this could be a beneficial night for us in a lot of ways.”
One way the Cardinals are guaranteed to benefit is in the Southland Conference standings. While there are five SLC games slated Wednesday, LU has the night off. That means it will gain ground on the five teams that lose, in the scuffle for post-season tourney seedings.
Thanks to a scratch-and-claw three-game winning streak, capped by Saturday night’s 49-46 grinder over East Division leader Stephen F. Austin, the 5-4 Cardinals are no longer precariously perched on the ever-changing bubble. As of today, they would be the No. 6 seed in the eight-team field.
“Beating SFA was really important,” said Roccaforte. “But it wouldn’t have been nearly as important if we had not won at Texas-San Antonio, then followed up with a win over Central Arkansas. Basically, we’re in a three-way tie for fourth place. We’ve build up some momentum. We have proved we can win close games.”
If things go well early against Lyon, Miles and Nabors will spend considerable time watching from the sidelines with Roccaforte.
Miles, who hit a couple of clutch shots late in the UT-SA game after missing his first eight field goal attempts, has played all but 20 seconds of the Cardinals’ last two games. He’s done it despite being slowed by a knee injury and he hasn’t been nearly as sharp as earlier in the year.
Nabors continues to be Lamar’s workhorse, putting up one double-double after another, despite getting more and more attention from opposing defenses. He’s played 39 and 40 minutes in the last two games, which is more than Roccaforte wants him on the floor after the leg injury that sidelined him all of last season.
“He’s just unbelievable with how hard he plays,” said the LU coach. “That was as tough a 12&11 (12 points, 11 rebounds) as you will ever see. They were doubling him all game, trying to keep us from getting the ball to him. We need to get him some rest.”
If that rest doesn’t come tonight, it’s unlikely there will be another opportunity.
• When: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.
• Where: Montagne Center (10,080), Beaumont
• Records: LC 5-17, LU 13-11
• Series: LU leads 2-0
• Last meeting: LU 97-54 on Nov. 29, 2008 in Beaumont
• Radio: KVLI (560-AM)
• Probable starters: LC: Chad Glover 6-9, Sr. (6.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg); Slaer Belew 6-7, Fr. (11.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg); Brando Cowart 5-11, Soph. (5.6 ppg, 2.6 apg); Andy Lee 6-3, Jr. (14.5 ppg, 3.6 apg); James Jackson 6-4, Sr. (9.3 ppg, 5.6 apg) LU: Anthony Miles 5-11, Soph (14.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.5apg); Lawrence Nwevo 6-8, Sr. (5.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg); Justin Nabors 6-6, S. (14.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg); Charlie Harper 6-6, Soph )9.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg); Kendrick Harris 6-1, Jr. (11.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg).
• ASU fast fact: Scots are the smallest school enrollment rise on Lamar’s schedule, with a total of 617 students.
• LU fast fact: Cardinals are 7-7 against non SLC opponents entering their final non-conference game of the season
