BEAUMONT – Sophomore guard Anthony Miles calmly drained two straight free throws with only 0:10 left to put an emphatic end to a four-game Cardinal losing streak and defeat North Carolina A&T;, 74-73, here Saturday night at the Montagne Center.

The win improves Steve Roccaforte’s team to 3-4 on the year, while A&T; drops to 3-5 on the young season.

But after a grueling four-game, six-day road trip to Tennessee, Lubbock, Ohio and West Virginia, Saturday’s victory was exactly what the doctor ordered and one the Cards needed.

And to rally and win it in the fashion they did coming from behind by eight (65-57) with just over seven minutes, the Cardinals finally have a reason to feel good about themselves.

“It’s a really good win, especially since everybody who came off the bench gave us a lift,” said Roccaforte. “And in the final minutes, we got every loose ball on the floor, every long rebound, and made every big play.”

Additionally Lamar made every defensive stop it had to make, and hit critical free throws (including Miles’ winners) to claim the hard-fought victory.

Besides nailing his two from the line in the last 10 seconds, Miles also scored the Cardinals’ final nine points in the contest.

He started his run with a jumper with 3:31 to cut the visitors lead to 67-69. Miles then picked up a steal with 1:51 left and went coast-to-coast for a basket to again trim the deficit to 71-69 before drilling a three-pointer from downtown Beaumont to cut into the Aggies’ four-point lead with 1:12 remaining at 73-72.

“Anthony’s (Miles) three with just a little over a minute to play was such a key basket in this win,” Roccaforte noted.

Then with 0:39 left, Dwane Joshua, who hit 5-of-6 treys on the night, missed a jumper and LU’s Justin Nabors grabbed his 11th rebound to set up the final frantic series for the Cardinals in the last 24 seconds.

Nabors, who finished with 21 points, three assists, three steals, and three blocks to go along with his 11 boards, got the ball to Miles on the run to get things in gear. Miles, though, missed on a three-point shot, but sophomore Charlie Harper grabbed his 15th rebound of the night and Roccaforte abruptly called timeout.

Following the timeout, Miles was fouled with 0:10.7 and completed his 15 points on the night with his game-winning two free throws. The sophomore from Friendswood also added nine assists.

North Carolina A&T; had one more shot at victory. But following another timeout and a Lamar defensive switch, senior guard Tavarus Alston threw up an air-ball with two seconds left and time ran out as Lamar breathed a sigh of relief.

Alston led all scorers with 24 points, while adding six assists and four rebounds.

Joining the Cardinals’ top scorers Nabors (his second straight double-double) and Miles were Harper with a double-double of his own (14 points, 15 rebounds), and Reggie Mathis off the bench with 13 points, including three treys.

One of the keys to victory was Lamar’s free throw shooting. In the first half, the Cards hit 7-of-10 from the line, then responded in like fashion in the final 20 minutes canning a tremendous 12-of-15 from the charity strip to finish the night with a 19-of-25 FT performance.

Lamar’s double figure scorers also shot the ball from the field with outstanding accuracy hitting 22-of-44 field goal attempts.

This offset an Aggie three-point barrage as they hit 11-of-25 from behind the arc, including 6-of-12 in the final 20 minutes when they led for most of the entire second half after a six-point LU halftime lead.

Another real key to the win was the fact that the Cardinals had just one turnover over the final 5:59 of the ball game, while hitting 8-of-8 from the line in that time span.

“In the last couple of minutes, we took care of the basketball and didn’t turn it over, especially down the stretch when it counted,” the Cardinal coach added.

The Cardinals now go on the road again with a Wednesday trip to Denver, and a Sunday game against the Hawaii Rainbows.

But on this morning, all the Cardinals are thinking about is last night’s thrilling come-from-behind victory. – LARRY  BODIN