BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's basketball team will bring in the New Year on the road as they prepare to open Southland Conference play at Central Arkansas Monday evening. Winners of three straight and four of their last five, the Cardinals (8-5) now transition into the Southland Conference portion of its schedule.
The Cards will look to get the New Year out on the right foot against a Central Arkansas team that has struggled out of the gate opening the year with a 2-13 (.133) overall record, but sent shockwaves through the Southland after their two-point victory over preseason favorite Sam Houston State, 67-65, Saturday evening. Prior to their thrilling victory over the Bearkats, UCA had dropped nine straight. Their only other victory came more than a month ago against Army.
The Bears trailed Sam Houston State by a point with seconds remaining before Aaron Weidenaar was fouled attempting a three-pointer. Weidenaar hit all three free throws to secure the Central Arkansas victory.
Although the Bears shot less than 31 percent from the field, they outrebounded Sam Houston State and held the Bearkats to 21-of-69 (.304) performance from the field including just four three-pointers. The Bears were led by 29 points from Jordan Howard, while Mattieu Kamba chipped in 16.
The Bears have been relying on Howard (19 ppg) and Kamba (11.5 ppg) for offensive leadership all season. Derrick Brooks is currently second on the team scoring approximately 13 points per game. The Bears had been outscored by more than 16 points per game prior to their victory over Sam Houston State.
In just the league opener, Central Arkansas has already flipped the league race on its side – not only knocking off the preseason favorites, but proving that the Southland Conference is strong from top to bottom and anyone can win on any given day.
The Cardinals need to look no further than last season to know just how tough the Bears can be in Conway. LU dropped a 14-point decision at Central Arkansas last January. It's the bitter memory of that game that LU hopes will prevent the Bears from celebrating back-to-back wins to start the conference season.
Big Red enters the game having outscored opponents by nearly 10 points per game this season, while shooting nearly 46 percent from the field, including a 37-percent clip from beyond the three-point arc. Nederland, Texas junior
Colton Weisbrod leads the team averaging nearly a double-double per game (14.7 ppg and 9.4 rpg). Weisbrod's nearly 10 rebounds per game leads the Southland.
While Weisbrod has been averaging a near double-double per game on the season, junior
Joey Frenchwood has become a double-double machine. The Newark, Calif., native has recorded double figures in points and assists in each of the team's past three games becoming the first Cardinal in modern history to record double-figure assists in three consecutive games.
The Cardinals will square off against UCA beginning at 8 p.m. Monday from the Farris Center in Conway. The game can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.
-LU CARDINALS-
