By Cody Pastorella
BEAUMONT — Taking them anyway they can get them, the Lamar Cardinals muscled past Southland Conference leading Stephen F. Austin 49-46 Saturday night in basketball action at the Montagne Center.
Cardinals coach Steve Roccaforte summed up the win rather simply, saying the difference in the contest was his team's last three rebounds, last two free throws, Donley Minor's two 3-pointers and a pair of jumpers from sophomore guard Anthony Miles, who hit the first of those two with 2:08 left in regulation to tie the game at 44-44.
Just over a minute later, Miles dropped in shot from just inside the paint to give his team a 47-46 advantage with 42 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Lumberjacks tried to answer with a 3-pointer on their end but that attempt fell short. Lamar's Jay Nabors, who had a team-high 12 points, was there to clean up the glass for his 11th and final rebound of the night. That forced SFA to foul, sending Nabors to the line for two and the senior forward sank them both to make the score 49-46 with 21 ticks left to go.
The Lumberjacks got off two 3-point shots in the next possession, as they worked the ball around to Walt Harris for the first look. Harris, who led all players with 18 points, missed his attempt to finish the night 3-of-6 from downtown. SFA's Jordan Glynn was able to grab the rebound to give his team another attempt at a tie but it was all for naught, as Eric Bell missed too.
Kendrick Harris covered up the ball nice and tight, claiming the Cardinals' 37th rebound as time expired. The win marks Lamar's third straight and it moves its SLC record 5-4 and overall mark to 13-11 with a non-conference bout against Lyon College coming in Beaumont on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, SFA, who had tallied just 22 rebounds, falls to 16-6 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Saturday also marked the first time that Lamar won a game while scoring less than 50 points since Feb. 26, 1990 when the Cardinals beat McNeese 48-47.
Leading up to Miles heroics, Minor, a freshman guard, drained a three to cut SFA's lead to 42-39 with 4:08 left in the contest. Unknown to Roccaforte, Minor's three was the first made jump shot for Lamar in the game. The Cards shot 35.9 percent from the field. They earned most of their points from the free throw line (19-for-26) and layups. They scored 20 points inside the paint.
But Lamar found a hot hand in Minor, who they went right back to for a second 3-pointer that narrowed the game to 44-42 with 3:11 left to play.
Roccaforte and Miles both said after the game that the team has a lot of confidence in Minor's shooting.
"He's a very confident player," Roccaforte said. "To go in there as a true freshmen and hit two shots like that when were down six, that takes a lot of confidence. And I have confidence in him. I have confidence in all my guys."
Nabors, who recorded his 12th double-double on the season and sixth in conference play, was the only Cardinal to reach double figures in scoring. Coy Custer, who had six boards, followed with eight points. Minor had six points.
Meanwhile, Miles had seven points and five boards. He was 2-for-10 from the field, 0-for-3 from 3-point range but was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe and hit the game's decisive bucket.
"Three in a row baby. Three in a row," Miles rejoiced after the game. "I did not play as well as I would like to have played but I didn't lose confidence in myself or my teammates. We got it done and that's all that matters."
The Lumberjacks shooting was just as poor, as they were just 18-for-49 from the field. The biggest lead in the game was six. The score was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands 14 times.
