Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT – Lamar has very little time to enjoy its victory over Houston Baptist in Thursday’s Southland Conference opener, and the main reason for that is because it has 48 hours to prepare for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, an opponent the Cardinals have struggled with recently.

The Cardinals (9-5, 1-0 SLC) appeared to the right the ship Thursday putting an end to a recent four-game slide. Big Red jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed against Houston Baptist. The Cardinals shot nearly 64 percent from the field in the second half and 57 percent from three-point range to put up an 18-point victory in the league opener. It wasn’t just the work shooting the ball but on the glass as well. LU outrebounded the Huskies, 43-33, including 18 offensive rebounds.

Senior James Harrison recorded his third-straight career high with 22 points on 8-of-12 (.667) shooting, while junior Josh Nzeakor recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Senior Zjori Bosha also busted out of a minor slump scoring a season-high 19 points on a near perfect 8-of-10 performance.

The Cardinals will need every bit of that effort Saturday to get past an A&M-Corpus Christi squad that plays much better than its 3-8 (.273) overall record. The Islanders are 3-1 (.750) at home but have lost three of their past four overall, and are coming off a 12-point loss at Central Arkansas in their conference opener.

Joseph Kilgore leads an Islanders offense that is averaging better than 66 points per game. Kilgore is the only Islander averaging in double figures scoring 17.3 points game. A&M-Corpus Christi has struggled to slow down opponents at times this season surrendering better than 70 points per game to opponents.

 The Cardinals are averaging nearly 77 points per game on the season, and outscoring opponents by 12 points per game. Senior Colton Weisbrod leads the team averaging 14.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He is one of three Cardinals averaging in double figures, and that number doesn’t include the Cardinals hottest player of late.

Harrison was moved into the starting lineup Thursday night and recorded his third consecutive career high. The Tennessee-Martin transfer has hit double figures in each of the team’s past four games, and is averaging better than 17 points per game during his recent four-game stretch.

 The Cardinals own a 17-9 (.654) overall record in the series, but A&M-Corpus Christi has found a great deal of its success lately. The Islanders have won three of the past four outings and nine of the past 13 dating back to the 2008-09 season. The Islanders swept the season series last year. Ironically, Corpus Christi has not been kind to the Islanders in the series. Big Red has won three of the last four meetings on the road in the series and is 8-3 all-time against the Islanders on their home floor.

 Saturday’s game is slated to tip off at 7:30 p.m. from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. It can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.