FRESNO, Calif. – The Lamar University Cardinals got a game-high 20 points from sophomore Kevin Booze Monday evening but didn't have enough firepower to overcome Fresno State. The Bulldogs held on late for an 80-72 victory dropping the Cardinals to 1-1 on the season.
 
"I'm proud of our guys because they fought hard tonight," said head coach Tic Price. "This is all part of the maturation process for this team. We are young, and we are going to have to learn how to play when the game is being called tight. We got ourselves into a tough situation with the fouls and it hurt us in the end."
 
The Cardinals got out to a great start offensively shooting 50 percent (12-of-24) in the opening half, including a 5-of-11 (.455) performance from beyond the arc. While the Cardinals were lighting up the nets, the Bulldogs were being held to less and 40 percent, but Fresno State was able to hang in the game due to its size advantage as well as its ability to get LU into early foul trouble.
 
The Bulldogs took a six-rebound advantage into the locker room and finished the game outrebounding LU by 12. Fresno State also made it to the free throw line 19 times in the opening half, and went 28-for-41 (.683) for the game. The Bulldogs made one more free throw than Big Red attempted. The home team also converted the Cardinals 16 turnovers into 16 points, while LU scored only six points off Fresno's eight miscues.
 
Riding the hot hand of sophomore Kevin Booze the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead against Fresno State. Booze buried one of his three first-half triples to give the Cardinals a five-point advantage less than three minutes into the game, but the Bulldogs had a hot hand as well.
 
Torren Jones was able to combat Booze's hot shooting with his own. Fresno began feeding the Chandler, Ariz., native in the paint and he was using a jump hook to get his points. The offensive back-and-forth between Booze and Jones was reflected in the score. Following a Marcus Owens jumper to tie the game at 20 with 10:23 remaining in the half, the game became a back-and-forth affair that saw five lead changes, two ties, and neither team gain a lead larger than two points.
 
Despite a strong shooting performance by LU, the Bulldogs took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line converting 14-of-19 (.737) first half attempts to build a two-point lead with 5:31 remaining. The Bulldogs then went on an 11-4 run to take an 11-point lead with 94 seconds remaining in the half.
 
That lead was pushed to as many as 16 points twice in the second half before the Red and White began to chip away at the lead. Trailing by 13, the Cardinals rattled off five straight sparked by a three-pointer from Nick Garth. After forcing a turnover, Garth buried another jumper to pull LU within six with more than seven minutes remaining.
 
The six-point deficit would be as close as LU would get as the Bulldogs pushed the lead back to double-digits. Garth closed out the scoring with a three-pointer with less than a minute on the clock for the final score.
 
Garth finished the game with 13 points, while junior Lincoln Davis added nine points and four rebounds. Port Arthur freshman Dorian Chatman scored six points, pulled down nine rebounds and blocked two shots.
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they travel to Dover, Del., to take on Delaware State. The game against the Hornets is slated to begin at noon (11 a.m. Beaumont time).
 
-LU CARDINALS-