Jan. 17, 2011

Box Score

JONESBORO, Ark. - Mike James, who led all scorers with 24 points on Monday night at the ASU Convocation Center, came up just off the mark on a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer as Arkansas State was able to hold on for a 78-75 basketball victory over Lamar University.

LU led 67-56 with 7:03 to play before the Red Wolves caught fire. ASU outscored Lamar 16-2 over the next five minutes to take a three-point lead at 72-69. A Coy Custer tip-in with 49 seconds to play made it a 72-71 lead.

Trey Finn, who finished with 15 points and six rebounds for the Red Wolves (10-10), hit a layup to push it back to three with 27 seconds on the clock. James and Finn then exchanged a pair of free throws each to give the host team a 76-73 lead with 10 seconds to play.

LU's Anthony Miles hit two free throws with 4.4 seconds on the clock to cut its deficit to one, but Brandon Peterson pushed it back to three with 3.4 on the clock. Lamar ran a perfect play to get James an open look as Vincenzo Nelson hit Custer at the top of the key with a three-quarter court pass.

Custer hit James on the wing for a good look, but the shot was just off to the right. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Cards against ASU.

"It was a good play and I had a good look," said James. "I just need to make that shot. After I hit a few shots early, they started paying more attention to me, but that's still a shot I can make."

Lamar (8-9), which will host Southland Conference foe Central Arkansas on Saturday night, led 47-36 at the half. After trailing 6-0 early, Lamar responded with a 25-9 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game at 25-15 with 9:35 to play in the game.

The Cards blistered the nets in the first half, hitting 56.7 percent of their shots from the floor, and making nine 3-pointers. James had 16 points at the break, while Brandon Davis scored 10 of his 15 points in the first half.

"I thought this was an extremely hard-fought game," said LU head coach Steve Roccaforte. "They have been playing really well lately, especially at home. We built a big lead and they made some adjustments, but I feel like we didn't keep pushing the ball in the second half.

"In the end, though, free throws and turnovers killed us."

Lamar committed 21 turnovers in the game as ASU finished with a huge 32-10 advantage in points off turnovers. After knocking down all four free throw attempts in the first half, the Cards were just 7-of-16 in the second half.

The Cards outrebounded the bigger Red Wolves 40-35, getting 10 boards from 6-foot-2 forward Devon Lamb. Each team had 19 second chance points, while ASU had a slight 40-32 advantage in points in the paint.

In addition to his 24 points, his best scoring effort since setting the school record of 52 against Louisiana College on Jan. 4, James finished with five boards and two steals. Anthony Miles had 11 points and six rebounds, while Tremell Adams scored 10 off the bench.

Martavius Adams scored 15 points for ASU, while Peterson finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

LAMAR