Box Score Jan. 28, 2012
Box Score
BEAUMONT - The Cardinals shot a season-high 62.0 percent from the field Saturday afternoon at the Montagne Center as Lamar University rolled to an impressive 80-56 Southland Conference basketball victory over visiting Nicholls.
Just one game after shooting a dismal 32.9 percent in a 74-62 loss at Northwestern State, Lamar found its shooting touch. The Cards shot over 60 percent each half, and were 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 13-of-17 from the free throw line.
Lamar, which will travel to Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday, improved to 13-8 overall and 4-3 in Southland play. The Colonels fell to 5-15 on the year and 1-7 in league games.
Nicholls started the game strong offensively, getting five straight layups to open a 10-6 lead with 14:21 to play in the first half. A Devon Lamb layup at the 12:07 mark capped a 9-0 Lamar run that put the Cardinals ahead 15-10.
"The first four minutes were my fault," said LU head coach Pat Knight. "I thought we should switch four guys and they did a lot better job with their offense than I thought they would. Finally at the timeout, we made an adjustment and the guys did a great job from there."
Behind Mike James' 15 first half points, Lamar built its lead to 39-24 at the break. The Cards shot 60.9 percent from the floor in the first half, and also enjoyed an 11-2 advantage in points off turnovers and a 6-0 advantage in fast break points.
The Colonels, who shot a respectable 44.0 percent from the floor in the game, would get no closer than 13 in the second half. Just over two minutes into the second half, the Cards' lead reached 20 points as senior guard Anthony Miles knocked down one of his two 3-pointers.
"Coach Knight told us at halftime that he didn't want us to let them (the Colonels) get to 60 (points)," said Miles. "He said okay you guys; you're up by 15, so let's don't let them get back into the game. That's what we did.
"It seems like we had slipped into a mode where we would win two games, then lose two games or win one and lose one. Coach Knight told us that the rest of the season is up to us that we need to focus on staying mentally tough. We have 10 more games in the regular season, and we're going to try to win all 10."
As impressive as Lamar's shooting was in the first half, it improved to 63.0 percent in the second half. The Cardinals also matched a season-low with only nine turnovers in the contest.
James led all players with 21 points, marking the eighth time he has reached the 20-point mark in a game this season. The senior guard was 9-of-13 from the floor, and matched a career-high with seven assists in the contest.
"It was big to win today," James said. "Just to get a conference win is always tough. We had lost our last home game, so we were focused on protecting the homecourt."
Miles added 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. He also recorded five assists as the Cardinals finished with 18 assists on 31 made field goals. Lamar's willingness to share the ball and attack the basket contributed to the strong shooting performance.
"I thought we executed well offensively," said Knight. "I told them I wasn't going to take the three away from them, but just make sure you're open. I thought they showed good patience, they drove the ball and we were able to get to the line."
Brandon Davis, who played a season-high 34 minutes after starting in place of the suspended Charlie Harper, added 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. While Lamar's top 3-point shooter didn't hit a trey in the game, he was 4-of-4 from 2-point range and made all five of his free throw attempts.
Lamar also got 11 points and a team-high six rebounds from Lamb.
Bryan Hammond led the Colonels with 19 points, while Jeremy Smith came off the bench to add 11 points. Dantrell Thomas chipped in with seven points and a game-high seven rebounds.
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