BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's basketball team had four players score double figures to defeat Texas Lutheran, 86-69, Monday evening in the Montagne Center. The Cardinals have now won five of their last six contests and head into the Christmas break with a 7-4 record.
 
"Obviously, we like to see four guys in double figures," said head coach Tic Price. "That means we are sharing the basketball. I thought Preston Mattingly had another strong performance for us. He followed up a double-double performance with 14 points and seven rebounds tonight. The guy just plays hard, and like I said the other night, that is one of the reasons why he is going to get playing time.
 
"Not to be overlooked, Quan Jones had a really good night too. He only scored eight points but finished the night with six assists and played well on defense," said Price.
 
Big Red finished the night shooting 44 percent from the field, while outrebounding the Bulldogs by 10, 44-34. Among the team's 44 boards, 18 were offensive which led to an 18-6 advantage for the Cards in second chance points.
 
The Cardinals struggled from beyond the arc knocking down just 5-of-19 (.263) attempts, but TLU struggled to find the range as well converting just 4-of-19 (.211) three-point attempts. The Bulldogs were 22-of-51 (.431) from the field for the night.
 
Junior Lincoln Davis led the Cardinals with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while senior Preston Mattingly followed up his first career double-double with a 14-point, seven-rebound outing. Freshman Dorian Chatman added 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks while classmate Boaz Williams came off the bench to chip in 11. LU also had three other players score at least eight points in a victorious effort.
 
After getting out to a slow start in their previous outing, the Cardinals made sure there wasn't going to be a repeat performance in the opening half. After a Zach Behr layup 36 second into the game gave the visitors a one-point advantage – the Bulldogs only lead of the night – LU responded with a 13-1 run to take an 11-point first half lead.
 
LU pushed its lead to as many as 13 in the opening 20 minutes before the Bulldogs made a push to cut the lead to six on another Behr layup. The Cardinals battled back with another run to take their largest lead of the half – 20 points – on a jumper from Chatman. The Cardinals took a 14-point advantage, 46-32, into the locker room behind Mattingly's game-high 10 first-half points.
 
The second half of the contest mimicked the first as the Cardinals would build a 20-point lead only to see Texas Lutheran pull within 14. TLU cut the Cardinals' lead to 13 with just under nine minutes remaining but couldn't get any closer. The Cards led by as many as 23 in the second half before TLU scored the game's final six points.
 
The Cardinals return to action Tuesday, Dec. 29 when they host Howard Payne. The game against HPU will tip off at 7 p.m. from the Montagne Center and will be the team's final non-conference test of the season.
 
-LU CARDINALS-