SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Lamar University men's basketball team shot better than 57 percent in the second half against San Francisco, but couldn't overcome an early second-half surge from the Dons. USF used a 14-2 second-half run to pull away from LU handing the Red and White an 82-63 setback.
"I wasn't happy with our performance tonight," said LU head coach
Tic Price. "We had a couple kids get sick on this trip and our last three practices haven't been up to our standards. I was very concerned about this game tonight. I take my hat off to USF. That is a very good basketball team and they were ready to play tonight."
The Cardinals (4-3) shot 47 percent from the field, but could manage just 4-of-13 (.308) from beyond the arc. USF's hot start to the second half led to a 50-percent performance from the field for the game. The Dons were held well below their season-average from beyond the arc knocking down just 7-of-25 (.280) attempts.
After outrebounding Idaho State by 19 three nights ago, the Cardinals were outrebounded Friday by 10, 37-27, including 14 offensive rebounds for the Dons. Their advantage on the glass led to a 23-8 difference in second chance points.
The Cardinals were led in scoring by junior
Colton Weisbrod who finished the night with 24 points and eight rebounds. Native Californian,
Joey Frenchwood, added 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
LU did a good job of keeping USF's leading scorer, Ronnie Boyce, a non-factor. He was held to eight points on 4-of-12 shooting. Chase Foster led the Dons with 20 points.
The Cardinals scored the first basket of the game on a layup from Weisbrod, but USF responded by scoring the game's next eight points. The Dons held the lead for the remainder of the half. The next 19 minutes was a game of cat-and-mouse that saw LU pull within a basket only to see USF get the lead back to six points.
After falling behind by five points late in the opening half, the Cardinals got consecutive baskets from Frenchwood to cut the lead to a single point, 29-28, with three minutes remaining in the half. After getting a stop on the other end of the floor, LU could not convert on its end and the Dons took advantage. USF got four consecutive points from Charles Minlend and a three-pointer from Charles Ratinho to push the advantage to eight points before the Cards got a jumper from
Christian Albright to trim the lead to six heading into halftime, 36-30.
After a slow start, the Cardinals finished the half shooting 13-of-32 (.406) from the field. LU's defense also held San Francisco just a tick below its season average in the opening half, 15-of-31 (.484). The Dons also held a seven-rebound edge on the glass, 21-14, in the opening half.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals could not withstand an early second-half surge from their opponents. USF opened the second half with a 14-2 run to build an 18-point advantage less than four minutes into the half. Big Red never got closer than 15 points after that.
The Cardinals will close out the current four-game stretch, and look to put an end to its two-game slide, Tuesday when they travel to Chicago, Ill., to take on DePaul. The game against the Blue Demons is slated to begin at 8 p.m. and can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.
-LU CARDINALS-
