Lamar sports information
BEAUMONT – Winners of two straight and three of the last four, the Lamar University men’s basketball team (7-5) will close out 2016 with a home contest against Huston-Tillotson Thursday evening. The game against the Rams will not only be the final game of 2016 but it closes out the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The Cardinals enter the non-conference matchup with an opportunity to close the year with a first. LU enters the game looking for its first three-game win streak of the season. The Cardinals have seen the offense take a huge jump forward in the past four games. During that stretch, the Cardinals are averaging better than 99 points per game, including two games of more than 100 points.

Big Red is coming off a historical performance that saw LU score a season-high 126 points, which included nine players reaching double figures, last time out. It was the first time in modern history that LU had as many as nine players in double figures. The game also saw junior guard Joey Frenchwood record his second consecutive double-double. The Newark, Calif. native dished out a career-high 13 assists against Arlington Baptist which tied for the fifth-best single-game performance in program history. Frenchwood was named Southland Conference Player of the Week for his efforts.

Junior Zjori Bosha has also become a weapon on both sides of the floor for the Cardinals. Not only has he significantly improved his offensive production, he has also become a threat to steal the ball at any time. He recorded an LU single-game record with 10 steals against Austin College, becoming the first player in the rich history of LU basketball to record at least nine steals in a game. He nearly tied that record last time out by recording the second-best single-game performance in school history.

A representative of the Red River Athletic Conference, Huston-Tillotson comes to the Golden Triangle looking to right the ship. The Rams (2-7/.222) have dropped three of their past four games and are coming off an 82-75 decision to a nationally ranked Wiley College squad.

The Rams bring two of the league’s top scorers into the contest. Malcolm Ballard and Quame Edwards are both averaging better than 16 points per game. Ballard leads the squad at 18.1 points per contest. The Rams are averaging better than 73 points per game on the season and are pulling down 40 rebounds per game.

The Cardinals will tip off against Huston-Tillotson Thursday at 7:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center. The game is part of a doubleheader with the LU women. If the women’s game goes long, the Cardinals will tip off 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women’s game. The game can also be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.