Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — For the second time in as many years, the Lamar Cardinals are headed to the Southland Conference Championships.

The Cardinals enter the conference’s postseason tournament as the league’s No. 6 overall seed, and will face seventh-seeded Central Arkansas in the opening-round of the tournament this evening.

Despite a setback in the regular-season finale, the Cardinals (19-12, 11-7 SLC) enter the postseason with some momentum. The Cardinals head to Katy having won four of the last five outings, and six of their final eight. In addition to the survive-and-advance mentality that all teams adopt at this time of the year, the Cardinals also have other goals on the line in the tournament’s opening round. Big Red steps on the court looking for its first 20-win season since 2011-12. In addition to that, the Cardinals would like to get another crack at UCA.

The Red and White faced Central Arkansas in the fourth game of the league schedule back in January. The contest went to double-overtime before the Bears pulled out a nine-point victory in the Montagne Center. Wednesday’s meeting will be the first between the two teams since.

The Bears (16-15, 10-8 SLC) earned the league’s No. 7 seed with a 10-8 league record, and enter the tournament with some momentum. After being locked in a battle with numerous teams to try and garner one of the last remaining spots for the tournament, UCA got hot in the final two weeks of the season rattling off three consecutive wins to secure a spot. The Bears enter the contest looking for their first four-game win streak of the season.

The Cards are making their 17th overall appearance in the Southland Championship tournament. They travel to Katy looking for their fifth tournament title in program history, and their seventh berth in the NCAA Championships. The Cardinals enter the opening-round contest with history on their side. Big Red is 13-3 (.813) all-time in SLC tournament opening-round games.

Two players from the Southland’s first-team all-conference squad will square off in the contest. Senior Colton Weisbrod was named first-team All-SLC for a second consecutive season, while the Bears’ Jordan Howard was named league player of the year.