Lamar Jumps Out to Early Lead and Cruises to 95-59 Win Over St. Gregory's

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The Cardinals close out two-game home stand Saturday at 7 p.m. against Louisiana College.

Dec. 4, 2007

Box Score

BEAUMONT - Lamar University scored the game's first 11 points and never looked back in cruising to a 95-59 win over St. Gregory's Tuesday night in non-conference men's basketball action at the Montagne Center.

Lamar improved to 2-5 on the season and snapped its five-game losing streak. SGU dropped to 4-3 on the season. The Cardinals close out their two-game home stand Saturday when Louisiana College visits for a 7 p.m. game.

Junior Justin Nabors scored the game's first two points on a jumper and the Cardinals never relinquished the lead. Lawrence Nwevo added a jumper and Kenny Dawkins converted a steal into a layup to make the score 6-0.

Dawkins nailed a three-pointer and followed with a layup at 16:38 to make the score 11-0. Patrick Jones got the Cavaliers on the board with a 15-foot jumper at 15:40. Lamar responded with a 14-2 run which was capped by a steal and layup by Matthew Barrow that gave the Cardinals a 21-point lead, 25-4, with 11:56 left in the opening stanza.

Lamar kept the pressure on and led by 26 points, 47-21, at intermission. The Cardinals shot a healthy 51.2 percent from the field in the first half while limiting SGU to 26.7 percent field goal shooting.

The Cardinals opened the second half with a 17-6 run to push their lead to 63-26 on a Dawkins three-pointer and a Brandon McThay layup at 14:54 of the second half. Lamar's largest lead of the game was 38, 95-57, on a Coy Custer jumper with 27 seconds left in the game.

Nabors led three Cardinals in double-figures with a season-high 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting from the field. Dawkins added 18 points on 4 of 10 shooting from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line. He also dished out five assists and had a season-high six steals.   

McThay, making his first start of the season, scored 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Lamar Sanders grabbed a game-high nine rebounds to go along with seven points and five assists.

Lamar shot a season-best 50.7 percent (35-of-69) from the field, 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from 3-point range and 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the free throw line. The Cardinals outrebounded the Cavaliers 48 to 32, including grabbing 18 on the offensive glass which led to 20 second chance points.

Jones, who scored 31 against the Cardinals last season, was held to 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the field. Cha'son Holmes and Josh Coulter each added 11 points. Holmes grabbed eight rebounds, blocked two shots and had two steals.

SGU shot 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the field, 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from 3-point range and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the free throw line. Lamar's defense forced 20 Cavalier turnovers, which led to 19 points for the Cardinals.

 

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