Box Score Jan. 4, 2010
Box Score
Charlie Harper scored a career-high 23 points while frontcourt mate Justin Nabors collected his sixth double-double of the year as Lamar cruised past Arkansas State, 87-68, at the Montagne Center Monday night.
Lamar (8-7) shot a season-high 53.8 percent while limiting its turnovers to a season-low eight. The Cards also dished out 24 assists -its most this season - and controlled the play in the lane with a 44-20 edge in points in the paint and a 42-34 rebound margin.
In addition to Harper's big night, Nabors finished with 15 points and 15 boards, while Kendrick Harris scored 17 on 7-of-11 shooting with a career-high seven assists. Lawrence Nwevo came off the bench to net nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and five rebounds.
Arkansas State (7-7) was led by Brandon Peterson with 21 points and eight rebounds. The Red Wolves shot 40 percent for the game and were just 16-of-32 from the free throw line. They also had nine turnovers that Lamar turned into 12 points.
Lamar closed the first half on an 11-4 run as they turned a one-point game with 4:03 remaining into a 41-33 halftime lead.
After playing even for the opening 2:36 of the second period, the Cardinals broke off an 11-2 run to extend their lead to 57-40. They eventually led by as many as 24, at 81-57 following a Stan Brown layup with 5:30 on the clock.
The was the fourth-straight for the Cards, who enter Saturday's Southland Conference opener at Southeastern Louisiana as one of just two league teams with an active streak of that length.
LU has also held its last six opponents under 70 points and the last four to 40 percent or lower.
Tip-off at the University Center in Hammond, La. is set for 3:05 p.m. and the game can be heard in Southeast Texas on KLVI 560-AM. It will be LU's first road game since Dec. 6 - a span of 34 days.
