Box Score Dec. 5, 2011
Box Score
BEAUMONT - Senior Brandon Davis came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, and the Cardinals bested the Broncs by a Montagne Center record 27 rebounds, leading the Lamar University basketball team to a 60-49 win over Texas-Pan American on Monday night at the Montagne Center.
With the win, Lamar stays perfect at home and improves to 6-3 on the year. The Cardinals will play their third straight home game on Dec. 14 as Huston-Tillotson visits the Montagne Center. UTPA fell to 2-8 on the year with the loss.
The Broncs scored the first four points of the game before Lamar went on an 8-2 run to pull ahead 8-6 with 12:09 to play. The Cardinals would not lose the lead again in building a 31-22 lead at the half. Davis scored 13 of his 16 points before the break.
"We came out slow, and they were more aggressive than we were," said Lamar guard Devon Lamb about the Cardinals' early struggles. "We played down to their level for a long stretch in the first half. We were trying to be more aggressive, but it just wasn't happening."
UTPA opened the second half on a 15-9 run to pull within three points at 40-37 with 12:02 to play, and had a golden opportunity to pull within one. Jesus Delgado broke out of the pack and had an uncontested dunk attempt that bounded off the back iron and out of bounds.
Lamar, which got several strong efforts from its reserves, responded with a 10-2 run to push its lead to 11 with 7:40 to play. UTPA got within single digits only one more time, and that came on a Ruben Cabrera 3-pointer with 35 seconds to play that made it 58-49.
Sophomore guard Tre Lynch and redshirt sophomore forward Osas Ebomwonyi had big games off the LU bench. Lynch posted career-highs of nine points and eight rebounds, while Ebomwonyi finished with seven points, seven rebounds and five of Lamar's 10 blocked shots.
"I was really happy with the bench," said LU head coach Pat Knight. "We were going to ride them out and I didn't care if they made a comeback. I wasn't going to let some of the starters back in the game because they didn't deserve it. I was really happy for those five guys that played that last 10 minutes because they're the ones that won us that game."
The Cardinals shot an abysmal 31.6 percent from the field, but benefitted from 31 trips to the free throw line. Lamar made 21 free throws on the night, as compared to UTPA which was just 7-of-15 from the charity stripe.
While Lamar's offense wasn't clicking, Knight was happy with the way his team played on the defensive end. Lamar limited the Broncs to 33.3 percent shooting and had a huge 55-28 advantage on the glass. UTPA managed only six offensive rebounds and two second chance points.
"Defense wins it for us again," said Knight. "Our offense couldn't get any uglier, but the defense was the good thing. If you aren't playing defense, (I told them) you're down 10 or 12 points. Our defense kept us in it."
Mike James, who picked up his first start since the Cardinals' third game of the season, was the only starter to score in double-figures as he finished with 10. Lamb added 14 rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Lamar grabbed 20 offensive boards in the game and finished with 15 second chance points.
Jared Maree led the Broncs with 13 points. Brandon Provost and Nick Weiermiller each added 10 for UTPA.
LAMAR
