Nov. 4, 2014 Box Score
BEAUMONT, Texas - A scrimmage that appeared to be a one-sided blowout in the opening half came down to the final seconds as the Red team defeated the White, 81-80, in the Lamar Cardinals' Red & White scrimmage Tuesday night at the Montagne Center.
"Tonight was a tale of two halves," said first-year LU head coach Tic Price. "The Red had a great first half, but the White team showed a lot of fight to come all the way back to take a lead after being down by nearly 30 points. There were a lot of positives from this game tonight, but we still have a lot of work to do."
After trailing by 26 points in the first half, the White fought back in the second half to eclipse the deficit taking their first, and only, lead of the game on a Quan Jones layup with 10 seconds on the clock. The elation was quickly turned to heartbreak as Tyran de Lattibeaudiere tipped in a Benquan Petty miss with one second remaining for the win.
It was probably fitting that de Lattibeaudiere got the gamewinner. The Kingston, Jamaica native, led all players with 25 points and 24 rebounds. He also added two steals and an assist for good measure.
The late-game heroics were on no one's radar early in the game, as the White team struggled to keep pace with a younger Red squad. The Red jumped out to a 15-0 lead holding the White scoreless for the first 6:40 of the contest.
The Red squad pushed their advantage to 20 points behind consistent shooting, and strong defense. The Red team went into the locker knocking down 15-of-31 (.484) shots, while holding the opposition to a mere 7-of-29 (.241). The Red squad also forced the LU White squad into 12 first-half turnovers.
The Red team pushed its advantage to 26 points before heading into an abbreviated halftime up by 24, 44-20.
The brief intermission is exactly what the White team needed as they seized complete control of the momentum. Led by senior Anthony Holliday's 14 second-half points, the White was able to cut the deficit to single digits with just under 11 minutes remaining.
The White squad shot a blistering 70 percent from the field in the second half, as six players finished the game in double figures led by Holliday's 22. The Red couldn't figure out how to stem the tide as their lead was trimmed to one, 79-78, following a Jones' layup. The White squad forced a turnover to get the ball back with 15 seconds remaining leading to Jones' layup to take the lead, but their excitement would last nine seconds as de Lattibeaudiere got the put back with one tick on the clock.
Ten Cardinals ended the night in double figures, which is a good sign for a team that struggled to score last season. Junior college transfer Dontavious Sears was the Red's second-leading scorer with 18 points, while Kevin Booze added 13 and LeMon Gregory scored 12 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Jones and senior Donovan Ross each scored 12 points, while senior Sebastian Norman and sophomore Preston Mattingly added 11. Junior Matt Hancock also scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Despite dropping the outcome, the Lamar White team outshot Big Red by nearly 11 points (.484 - .377). Both teams struggled from beyond the arc shooting below 30 percent. The White squad turned the ball over 17 times, but 12 of those came in the opening half.
The Cardinals will tip off the regular season Friday, Nov. 14th, at SMU. The game is slated to tip off at 8:30 p.m. from Moody Coliseum.
-LAMAR-
