Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT — The Lamar University men’s basketball team will step on the court one final time when they close out the 2015-16 season Thursday evening in Huntsville against Sam Houston State. While the Cardinals enter the contest playing for pride, SHSU is battling for seeding in next week’s Southland Conference Championship tournament in Katy.
The Cardinals (11-18, 3-14 Southland) had their playoff hopes dashed Monday evening after being edged out by rival McNeese State, 77-74. Big Red found itself down by 18 points in the second half but managed to fight their way back into the game, hitting what appeared to be a game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer only to have video review overturn the call. With a win, the Cardinals still have a chance to catch Nicholls in the standings, while the Bearkats (16-13, 11-5 SLC) are trying to protect their third-place spot in the standings and tie Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for the second spot.
As if a painful reminder of the heartbreaking finishes LU has had to endure, the first meeting against the Bearkats was very similar to the Red and White’s game Monday night. When Sam Houston State came to town last month, the Bearkats jumped out to a 22-point second half lead. It was at that time that LU mounted one of the best comebacks in school history – or what would have been one of the best. LU had the ball late trailing by only three, when sophomore Kevin Booze put up a three from the left side of the court only to have it hit off the front of the rim.
Although being outrebounded, the Cardinals took full advantage of their defensive pressure to disrupt the SHSU offense. LU forced Sam Houston into 18 turnovers which the Cards cashed in for 25 points. Similar to Monday’s game, the Cardinals had four players hit double figures in points against Sam Houston State.
Junior Preston Mattingly was one of the four Cardinals to reach double figures against McNeese State. Although he has another year of eligibility remaining, Mattingly can graduate at the end of the year, and he is making the most of what could be his final games in a Red and White uniform. After scoring a career-high 22 points at Incarnate Word, the Evansville, Ind. native followed that up by recording a double-double (14 points and 12 rebounds). Mattingly is averaging 18 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in the team’s last two games.
When the Cardinals step on the floor, they will be looking to avenge their performance from the last trip to Huntsville. LU struggled out of the gate last season and never recovered dropping a 79-50 decision to the Bearkats at the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. In that game, the Cardinals shot less than 37 percent from the field, and only eight percent from three-point range. Big Red was unable to find the range from the free throw line connecting on just nine of 20 attempts.
Thursday game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. from the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. The game can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.