BEAUMONT, Texas – Winners of three straight, and five of their last six, the Lamar University Cardinals head to Nacogdoches, Texas Saturday as the latest team to secure a spot in the Southland Conference Championship tournament next month in Katy, Texas. The Cardinals enter the weekend showdown alone in sixth place in the Southland standings, a game back of New Orleans, but have a two-game lead over Abilene Christian and a 2.5-game lead over Central Arkansas.
 
Stephen F. Austin enters the contest with thoughts of a Southland Conference regular-season title. SFA (23-5/12-3 SLC) is currently tied for second overall a game back of league-leading Nicholls. For the Lumberjacks to win at least a share of the title, they need to win out and have Nicholls lose one of its remaining three games.
 
For the Cardinals (18-11/10-6 SLC) to push their current win streak to four games, they will have to do it in what has become one of the toughest places to play in the Southland over the course of the past several years. The 'Jacks are undefeated at home this season, sporting a perfect 15-0 record in 2017-18. The Lumberjacks are 86-3 (.966) at home since the 2012-13 season, with only one of those losses coming to a Southland Conference opponent.
 
The Cardinals will be looking to exorcise some of their own demons in Nacogdoches Saturday. Big Red trails the all-time series 26-35 (.426) to Stephen F. Austin, and has struggled to an 8-20 (.286) mark in Nacogdoches. Big Red heads north looking for its first victory in Nacogdoches since the 2005-06 season. The Cards are also looking for consecutive wins against SFA for the first time since the 2001-02 seasons, which was also the last time the Cards swept the season series over SFA. The Cardinals put an end to a 10-game slide in the series with a 22-point victory over SFA in Beaumont earlier this season.
 
While the Lumberjacks are trying to win at least a share of the conference title, LU is fighting for a better tournament seed as well. The Red and White can climb into a tie for third place in the standings but they must win out and need some help from a couple different teams.
 
Saturday will be a matchup between SFA's powerhouse offense against the Cardinals' defense. The Lumberjacks rank second in the Southland averaging 83.2 points per game, while LU is fourth surrendering less than 70 points per game.
 
The Lumberjacks are led by three players in double-figures. Shannon Bogues leads the team averaging better than 16 points per game, while Kevon Harris averages 15.9 per game. In the first meeting, Bogues and teammate T.J. Holyfield led the way with 12 points each for an offense that shot less than 37 percent from the field.
 
Senior Colton Weisbrod continues to rank among the league leaders averaging better than 15 points and eight rebounds per game, but junior Nick Garth has caught fire lately. Garth is coming off a 22-point performance at Houston Baptist, and is averaging 20 points per game over the course of the team's past four games.
 
The game against SFA is slated to tip off at 6 p.m. from the William R. Johnson Coliseum and can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI. The contest will also be televised on ESPN3.
 
-LU CARDINALS-