Surprise SFA goes 75 yards in six plays to get a score before the end of the first half and then receive the opening kickoff of the third quarter and go on a twelve play drive to close the gap to ten points.
Montana State smokin SFA in the quarter final game. SFA has three turnovers and MSU has three touchdowns off of the turnovers. MSU up 24-0 with a minute and a half left in the first half.
At least the acceptable expectations for Lamar men's basketball are elevated. Realistically they have lost one game they should have won, maybe two. The loss to CC hurts. What Lamar does next Tuesday versus UTRGV is the opportunity to really get on track.
Cards are down by ten points at the half 51-41. SDSU is leading the rebounding 22-12 and have five less fouls. Seems like SDSU is getting home court officiating. Bright spot far for Lamar is three-point shooting, making 10 of 22 attempts. The scoring difference is at the free throw line where SDSU has twenty attempts to Lamar's nine and have seventeen makes to Lamar's nine.
The difference between the A's at the time and Lamar is that the A's were winning the west. Lamar has to win the conference to improve all of the players stock. I hope Lamar is able to go find / get the FBS players out of the portal that want to play and fill the holes where an improvement in quality and experience will really raise the teams performance..
FCS has been MVFC and Big Sky for multiple years and the Big Sky looks to be in control this year with all three of their qualifiers entering the quarter finals.
CC came out to start the second half and worked their way back to take a lead. Lamar got a little more back in sync to respond getting out to a seven point lead and at the under eight-minute timeout Lamar is up by six points 44-38. Looks like it's going to be a tight game as it heads toward the end.
At the half Lamar has recovered and built a five-point lead 26-21. After their early hot shooting CC has cooled off and Lamar has warmed up some. Lamar has the edge in rebounds, the turnovers are even and Lamar has only three fouls. One question, is there something bothering Holifield tonight, he has only played ten minutes.
At the first media timeout the Islanders have the early lead 10-2. Lamar is one for five shooting while CC is four for six including two three pointers.
Both lines may be judged as good individually but particularly the offense doesn't consistently make the blocks necessary to run the ball whenever and wherever the coach wants. Just believe they have to get to another level to carry this program forward. Sometimes pass blocking can be that the quarterback is too slow in making his reads, but again I see too much inconsistency.
Men open SLC play at home against A&M CC. CC has a worse record but have played what appears to be a tougher non-conference slate so far. Their roster looks to be upper classmen heavy and a lot of transfers. Their record may be partially due to taking time to gel. Will have to wait and see what that translate to.
Looks like there are three good sized linebackers in the early signees and a D-lineman that might be able to play linebacker. Lamar doesn't have a bruiser back capable of getting yards up the middle without a good hole, way too many runs stuffed up the middle. The offense has to be complimentary between runs and passes.
Not going to say the skill positions don't need to improve, but the most important improvements need to be both lines. No back can consistently run the ball for positive yards without a lane to run through and no quarterback can be an accurate passer without protection. That's the o-line. The D-line has to apply pressure to the opponents.
It will require strong pitching and hitting to win forty for a third straight year with this schedule. Good for Davis to challenge himself and his players. Every opponent looks like a quality one.
My opinion, at his age, East may be the best post player Lamar has had since Gulley. He has a decent jumper, defense is improving steadily, inside game is fair, he is athletic and agile, is getting rebounds and is getting better every game.