Lamar fights for control of destiny

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Lamar fights for control of destiny

BEAUMONT - Mike McConathy would love to tell you how proud he is of Steve Roccaforte, the first-year head coach at Lamar University, for pulling his Cardinals off the canvas at just the right time.

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But he can't right now, because, well, today pits two teams from the Southland Conference East Division. And all things being equal, McConathy wouldn't mind beating his old buddy's brains out.

McConathy - the eighth-year coach at Northwestern State and godfather to Roccaforte's son - will allow this much: He's not surprised that the surging Cardinals have gone from a struggling also-ran to a hot team on a four-game winning streak.

"Steve's a young, dynamic guy, and this is his first year as a head coach," McConathy said via cell phone Monday. "They had to work through some certain things and kind of figure out some things. So, I'm not surprised they've gotten it together."

Now, as Lamar (13-14, 7-6 SLC) visits Natchitoches, La., for a rematch with Northwestern State (14-13, 9-5) at 6:30 p.m. today in Prather Coliseum, McConathy will try to pull the Cardinals apart.

If Lamar wins, it will be tied with the Demons in the conference loss column, a half-game behind Northwestern in the East Division - and the Cards will be in control of their own fate.

Since that might be a little hard to digest, here's another way to look at it: If Lamar wins tonight, then defeats Nicholls State and Southeastern Louisiana in its final two games of the regular season, the Cards will win the East.

"We've won four in a row and I think we're finally clicking," center James Davis said. "Coach Roc said the whole season that there was going to be a turning point where we all were going to click. I think we've finally hit that point. Now, we're a team to be reckoned with."

Virtually no one would have believed that after these teams met Jan. 20 in the Montagne Center. That night, everything went wrong for the Cardinals.

Facing a quick, athletic team that loves to press, create turnovers and score easy baskets, Lamar trailed by just three points at halftime, 33-30.

Then the wheels fell off. The Cards were on the wrong end of a 21-2 run - and what they didn't score in points, they made up for in technical fouls.

SLC official Sean Casey teed up Roccaforte twice, resulting in an automatic ejection and a one-game suspension for the coach.

For Lamar, that game started a tailspin of epic proportions. The Cards lost four of their next five games. Roccaforte momentarily kicked Davis off the team, then brought him back. During one four-game stretch, Lamar shot just 37 percent from the floor

Heading into their Feb. 10 game against Texas State, the Cardinals were 3-6 in conference play and in serious danger of missing the conference tournament.

Then, it was as if the team decided it had enough.

Lamar has reeled off four in a row - including last Thursday's mammoth 78-77 upset of first-place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and a physical, 75-71 win over McNeese State on Saturday.

Roccaforte and Casey got to bury the hatchet when the official called Thursday's game in the Montagne Center. What's more, Darren Hopkins was named the SLC Player of the Week, with a combined 40 points and seven assists in the Cards' last two wins - including the game-winning three-point play against Corpus Christi.

"I just think our guys are very resilient, tough-minded guys," Roccaforte said. "They care about winning, and they care about what they're doing. You just have to challenge them in the right manner. Once you find out what that is, then those guys pick it up, and they're ready to go."

Now they're facing Northwestern, which has lost three of its last four - including an ESPN "Bracketbuster" game at Tennessee Tech in which the Demons fell by one point, 85-84.

It its last game, however, Northwestern State overcame its own struggles and a 13-point second-half deficit Saturday night, getting a combined 36 points from seniors Jermaine Spencer and Kennan Jones to rally past Southeastern Louisiana, 71-65.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals - for all their recent success - haven't even clinched a berth in the tournament.

In fact, should they lose their last three games, they could finish behind McNeese, Nicholls and Texas-Arlington. Then the feel-good story from the Montagne Center would turn rotten in a hurry.

A losing streak could start today against Northwestern - which, lest anyone forget, gave Lamar fits in the first matchup.

Roccaforte, for his part, isn't focusing on the negative.

At this point, why would he?

"We win, and it boosts us," Roccaforte said. "That's what we're concentrating on: every time you win, it's boosting you and what you're doing. If we win Tuesday night, we're tied in the loss column for first place in our division. That's all that matters."