Box Score Dec. 4, 2010
Box Score
HOUSTON - Junior Anthony Miles' last second attempt came up short at the buzzer on Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse as Rice University was able to hang on for a 75-73 basketball victory over Lamar University.
Miles drove the length of the floor and hit a layup with 1.4 seconds to play that cut Rice's four-point lead in half. The Cardinals then picked off the inbounds pass and Miles had one last chance to send the game to overtime, but could not get a firm grip on the ball as his shot came up short.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak over Rice that began during the 2007-08 season, and dropped the Cardinals to 4-4 on the year. Lamar will look to get back in the win column on Saturday at the Montagne Center when it hosts Huston-Tillotson at 7:05 p.m.
Rice's Connor Frizzelle hit a jumper with 11:13 to play in the game that gave the Owls (4-4) their first lead of the second half at 52-51. Trey Stanton would add a layup at 9:51 that extended the Owls lead to three and capped a 27-12 run to start the second half.
The Cardinals had no quit in them, however, as Kendrick Harris hit a jumper to start a 10-2 run that put Lamar back on top 61-56 with 6:06 on the clock. Harris finished the game with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, including a career-high four 3-pointers.
Rice's Tamir Jackson buried a jumper 23 seconds later that cut Lamar's lead to three points and began the exciting finish. Neither team would go ahead by more than three until the final six seconds.
With Rice leading 71-68, LU's Brandon Davis knocked down his fourth 3-pointer with 43 seconds to play to tie the game at 71.
Arsalan Kazemi hit a pair of free throws with 21 seconds to play that gave Rice the lead for good at 73-71. Lamar's Donley Minor had a good look to tie with a 15-footer from the left baseline, but couldn't get it to fall. Rice's Cory Pflieger secured the rebound, was fouled and hit both free throws to give the Owls a 75-71 lead with 6.5 seconds on the clock.
Lamar finished the contest with impressive number, shooting 49.0 percent from the field and hitting 9-of-18 from 3-point range. The Cardinals committed just 10 turnovers, but were outrebounded by seven as Rice used its size to finish with a 24-8 advantage in points in the paint.
Harris led Lamar to a big first half as he made all four of his field goal attempts to help the Cardinals lead 37-27 after the first 20 minutes of play. Lamar connected on 6-of-10 3-point attempts in the first half and led by as many as 13 points.
Junior Charlie Harper, who battled with the bigger Kazemi before fouling out with 21.4 seconds to play in the game, finished with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals. Kazemi led all players with 24 points and 11 rebounds, finishing 14-of-18 from the free throw line.
Miles, who scored a career-high 28 points in LU's 77-61 victory over Rice last season, finished with 10 points and dished out a team-best four assists. Davis chipped in with 12 points off the Cardinals' bench, making 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
Cory Pflieger scored 13 for the Owls, while Tamir Jackson finished with 12 points and five boards.
LAMAR
