BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar University men's basketball team will make the short drive over to Huntsville, Texas Wednesday looking for consecutive victories. Fresh off their 10-point win over Houston Baptist Saturday, the Cardinals enter the series looking to get back to .500 in Southland Conference play. The Cardinals are currently 13-13 (.500) on the season, and alone in eighth place with a 7-8 (.467) mark.
 
The Cardinals forged a game in front of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after their weekend victory combined with A&M-Corpus Christi's loss to Abilene Christian. Big Red enters the new week just a half game back of McNeese and a game back of Central Arkansas. The Cardinals have won three of their previous five contests but remain in a dogfight to lockup a spot in next month's conference postseason tournament.
 
Sam Houston State has a one game lead on the fourth spot in the conference standings with five games remaining. The Bearkats enter the week still with a shot at the regular season title. SHSU is just a half game back of Abilene Christian, a game back of Nicholls and just a 3.5 games back of league leaders Stephen F. Austin.
 
The Bearkats have been on a bit of a roller coaster ride since mid-January. After winning four straight, Sam Houston dropped three consecutive, but have recently bounced back. SHSU heads into Wednesday's contest having won consecutive games over Southeastern Louisiana and Central Arkansas.
 
The Cardinals trail the all-time series to Sam Houston, 37-32 (.464), a record that includes a heartbreaking five-point overtime setback in Beaumont earlier this season. That game saw LU surrender a six-point lead with 14 seconds remaining in the contest. The two teams have split the past six contests, but until head coach Tic Price's arrival it was one that turned heavily in favor of the Bearkats. Prior to Price taking over the program, SHSU had won four straight and 16 of the previous 20 games. Historically, the Cardinals have struggled in games played in Huntsville. The Cardinals are 9-22 (.290) all-time against Sam Houston State on the road.
 
The Cardinals enter the week averaging better than 71 points per game and have received a boost in the play of junior Avery Sullivan. Already in the midst of a career year, the Pflugerville native is averaging 23 points per game in the teams last two games – it's the first time Sullivan has scored at least 20 points in consecutive games in his career.
 
Wednesday's game is slated to tip off at 6:30 p.m. from the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.