Cards defeat Arkansas State 63-58

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JONESBORO, Ark. – An early second-half run to take a seven-point lead was all the Lamar Cardinals needed to pick up their second win of the season Tuesday night knocking off Arkansas State, 63-58. It was the first non-conference road victory for Lamar (2-3) since the 2011-12 season when Big Red defeated Rice.

“I’m very proud of this team tonight,” said head coach Tic Price. “We needed a win like this. You need to be able to get a win when things aren’t necessarily going your way. Plus, our guys needed to see that their hard working is paying off. We still have a long way to go, but tonight we found a way to get the win.”

The Cardinals shot better than 45 percent from the field, including a 10-of-23 second-half performance. In addition to Lamar’s solid shooting, the Cardinals dialed up the defensive pressure in the second stanza holding the Red Wolves to six field goals (.316) following an opening half that saw ASU connect on 48 percent of its shots.

Despite serious foul trouble to Lamar’s post players, the Cardinals still managed to find an advantage in the paint. Lamar outscored the Red Wolves, 36-20, in the post. Big Red also found an advantage off the bench. Lamar’s reserves outscored ASU’s backups, 23-8, led by eight points from freshman Zjori Bosha.

“You can see that confidence start to grow with all of our guys, but especially our younger players,” said Price. “I believe you will continue to see this as the year wears on.”

The first half was a tight battle that saw neither team gain larger than a five-point advantage in the opening 20 minutes. Neither team was willing to surrender an advantage as the first half saw eight lead changes, and the game was tied five times.

The Cardinals were charged with 13 fouls in the opening half – Arkansas State was assessed six — which translated into more free throws made for ASU in the opening half than Lamar attempted. 

Lamar overcame the foul trouble with strong shooting, and forcing some timely turnovers. LU trailed by five late in the opening half, and rallied to tie the game. After forcing a turnover, LU got the basketball back with 21 seconds remaining. With two seconds left on the clock, Quan Jones found a cutting Preston Mattinglywho went right to the basket with the ball to tie the game at 35 as the first-half buzzer sounded.

The Cardinals jumped out to a quick start in the second half, knocking down four of their first eight attempts to reclaim the lead, 44-39, with 17:08 remaining in the contest. It was an advantage that the Cardinals would not relinquish.

After taking a three-point lead to start the second half, ASU answered with a three-pointer from Cameron Golden. After the Arkansas State triple, the Cardinals scored the game’s next seven points and would push its lead to as many as eight, 54-46, with less than nine to play. After the eight-point lead, the Red Wolves could get no closer than three points as senior Anthony Holliday and Mattingly would each hit a free throw in the final seconds to put the game away.

Senior Tyran de Lattibeaudiere finished the night with a team-high 12 points and seven rebounds. Holliday chipped in 11 on 4-of-7 shooting.

The Red Wolves were led by Anthony Livingston’s 16 points and nine rebounds.

Lamar returns to action Friday when they travel to Houston to face Texas Southern. The game against TSU is slated to tip off at 3 p.m.

 

 

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