BEAUMONT, Texas – The calendar has flipped to the month of November and that means a new basketball season is on the horizon. Beginning his sixth season at the helm, Tic Price looks to continue one of the best runs in program history as the Lamar University Cardinals have recorded back-to-back-to-back 19-win campaigns, which is the Cardinals' longest run of success since the 1982-83 through 1984-85 seasons. Last season the Cardinals capped it off with a 20-win campaign (20-13) – its first 20-win season since 2011-12.
 
The Cardinals closed out the season by putting together one of the best runs in school history winning nine straight to advance to the second round of the Southland Conference Championships. Big Red finished last season 12-6 in Southland Conference play to finish tied for third in the standings, its best conference finish since the 2011-12 season.
 
The Cardinals tip off the 2019-20 regular season with consecutive home games beginning Tuesday against Champion Christian. The Red and White will follow that up Friday with a game against Arlington Baptist. The game against Champion will tip off at 11 a.m. Tuesday and will serve as Education Day for the Cardinals. Friday's game against ABU will tip off Friday at 7 p.m. Both games will be played in the Montagne Center.
 
LU enters the new season riding the momentum from last year but the Cardinals will have to replace 1,000-point club scorers Nick Garth and Josh Nzeakor who exhausted their eligibility following last season. Big Red will look returnees T.J. Atwood (senior), V.J. Holmes (senior), junior Avery Sullivan (junior) and Davion Buster (sophomore) for leadership with a roster that consists of nine new players (four high school signees and five transfers).
 
A huge factor for the Cardinals late run came from Buster. After scoring just 26 points through the team's first 24 games, Buster caught fire averaging better 16 points per game over the course of the team's final eight games.
 
The Cardinals also return Atwood – a 2019 Preseason All-Southland selection – following a junior season that got cut short due to injuries. Atwood was in the midst of his best season in a Red and White uniform when his season came to an end. Atwood enters the season as the team's top returning scorer (10.9 ppg) and rebounder (5.3 rpg).
 
Champion Christian is coming off a 12-11 campaign last season and enters the week 1-0 after a blowout victory over Bacone College. Champion recorded a 105-81 victory over the Warriors. ABU is 0-2 on the season but will face Abilene Christian Tuesday before heading to Beaumont.
 
After the two-game homestand, the Cardinals will hit the road for five of their next six games. The Cardinals will be in Pittsburgh, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 12 to take on Duquesne before returning home Friday, Nov. 15^th to host Mount St. Mary's. That will be the final home game for three weeks as LU travels to Utah Valley, Kentucky, UAB and Texas Southern before returning home to host Rice Saturday, Dec. 7^th.