Lamar sports information

CHICAGO – Sophomore Dorian Chatman of Port Arthur came off the bench to score a season-high 21 points, and junior Zjori Bosha added 10 in a reserve role, but that was all the firepower the Lamar Cardinals could muster against DePaul Tuesday evening.

The Blue Demons handed the Cardinals (4-4) their third consecutive loss with an 80-61 setback.

The Cardinals were sluggish from the field to start the game. LU knocked down just two of their first 13 attempts and never recovered. Big Red finished the night shooting 18 of 60 (.300), and was held to a 7-of-26 (.269) performance in the opening 20 minutes.

LU was more accurate from beyond the arc converting 9 of 24 (.375) attempts, including six in the second half. The Cardinals got three-pointers from five different players, including sophomore Nick Garth’s game-high three triples.

DePaul finished the night shooting 50 percent from the field following a 17-of-31 (.548) performance in the second half. The Cardinals limited their hosts to just 2 of 9 on three-point attempts during the 40 minutes of action. The Blue Demons finished with three players in double figures led by 21 points from Eli Cain.

“We got out to a slow start and never recovered,” said LU head coach Tic Price. “We couldn’t get much to fall in the first half. DePaul is a talented team and we knew this was going to be tough. I’m proud of how Dorian Chatman and Zjori Bosha played tonight. They were bright spots for us.”

Due to Chatman and Bosha’s effectiveness off the bench, the Cardinals managed a nine-point advantage in bench scoring (43-34). The Cardinals also forced DePaul into 13 turnovers, which they converted into 18 points. The Red and White only turned the ball over 10 times.

The Blue Demons took advantage of their size in the post to finish plus-26 in points in the paint. DePaul also outrebounded LU, 45-30, including 14 offensive rebounds which they converted into a 10-point advantage in second chance points, 17-7.

The Blue Demons took advantage of the Cardinals slow offensive start to build a 13-point first half lead. After the Cardinals took their first and only lead of the contest following a Torey Noel three-pointer, DePaul responded by scoring the game’s next five points to push their advantage to six. Holding a 16-12 lead with just over nine minutes remaining, DePaul rattled off an 11-2 run to build their lead to 13 points with less than seven minutes remaining in the half.

The Cardinals responded with a run of their own to cut the lead down to four with just over three minutes until half. LU got consecutive baskets from Chatman to cut the deficit down to nine, 27-16. Following two free throws from junior Colton Weisbrod, classmate Joey Frenchwood buried a three-pointer to pull LU within four. DePaul owned the final three minutes of the half outscoring the Cards, 7-2, in the final 1:54 to take a nine-point lead into halftime, 34-25.

The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they host Austin College. The game against the Roos will tip off at 2 p.m.