Box Score Jan. 26, 2015 Box Score
BEAUMONT, Texas - Senior Anthony Holliday scored all of his game-high 25 points in the second half, but Lamar was unable to overcome a 52-percent shooting performance in the final 20 minutes by Stephen F. Austin. The Cardinals fell to SFA, 82-65, falling to 10-10 on the year, and 4-4 in Southland Conference play. The loss also marked the teams first set back at home (8-1) in 2014-15.
"Stephen F. Austin is a very talented basketball team," said head coach Tic Price. "We didn't come out focused tonight. You can't get out to a slow start, and have the amount of turnovers against a team like that. SFA will make you pay, and that is what happened.
"We didn't finish the defense off with rebounding, and we turned the ball over 19 times. I thought we lost our poise early in the game. Normally, we have an advantage with our bench outscoring the opponents, but tonight we got outplayed in that area too," added Price.
The Cardinals finished the night a solid 20-of-46 (.435) from the field, but were hurt by 19 turnovers. The Lumberjacks cashed in on nearly every miscue, scoring 26 points off the 19 miscues. Of the `Jacks first 19 points, 17 came by way of turnovers.
Lamar also got outrebounded, 42-33, by the defending conference champions.
Although the Cardinals managed to outshoot their guests, SFA shot 52 percent in the second half, and 26-of-65 (.400) for the game. Senior Jacob Parker led the `Jacks with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
SFA jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed in the contest. The `Jacks pushed the lead to 13 points, 19-6, before the Lamar defense was able to settle down. The score remained the same for the next three minutes of game time before either team would score. The two teams rotated baskets over the course of the next 4:30.
The Cardinals cut the deficit to eight points on a Kevin Booze layup, but SFA responded with another run, including a basket at the buzzer to push the lead to 16 at halftime.
It was more of the same in the second half as Lamar could get no closer than 11 points. The Lumberjacks pushed their advantage to as many as 22 points, before Lamar cut the score to the final deficit.
Holliday continued his strong performance posting his fifth 20-point effort since the start of conference play. Senior Tyran de Lattibeaudiere added 10 points on 4-of-6 (.667) shooting. He also pulled down five rebounds and blocked five shots. Junior LeMon Gregory ended the night with 10 points on 4-of-5 (.800) shooting.
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they face Abilene Christian. The game against the Wildcats is slated to tip off at 6 p.m. from the Montagne Center.
-LAMAR-
