Guest abovetherim Posted January 26, 2008 Report Posted January 26, 2008 By Bob West The Port Arthur News Getting the road monkey off its back Thursday night at Central Arkansas was small potatoes for the Lamar University basketball team. Now the Cardinals are confronted with the 800-pound gorilla that Northwestern State has become to them. As they ready for a 2 p.m. tipoff today at Prather Coliseum, the Cardinals must deal with the reality that no team in the Southland Conference has owned them like the Demons. Northwestern State has won seven consecutive times and ended Lamar’s season three straight years in the SLC tourney. “They have been an excellent, well coached basketball team with a lot of experienced players who were comfortable in their system,†explains LU coach Steve Roccaforte. “They have had a lot of good wins in that time, including beating Iowa in the NCAA tournament.†The current Demons, however, don’t appear to be nearly as good as the teams which bullied Lamar. After an 85-74 thrashing at McNeese State, they dropped to 3-2 in conference play and 7-12 overall. The latter mark, however, as Roccaforte points out, is somewhat deceptive because of a brutal schedule. During a 16-day stretch of December, the Demons played at LSU, at Arkansas, at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma State. The result was four consecutive drubbings by 34, 31, 24 and 46 points. Remarkably, they rebounded to win their first three SLC games over Texas-Arlington (86-82), Texas State (95-84) and A&M-Corpus Chrisiti (67-58). Road losses to Texas-San Antonio and McNeese followed. “They may not be as strong as in the past, but they are still very capable and they are playing at home,†Roccaforte said. “With them coming off back-to-back losses, we will get their best shot. We would have anyway because this has become a rivalry game.†Roccaforte couldn’t be much more pleased with his own club, on the heels of back-to-back overtime victories against Sam Houston State and at Central Arkansas. The 89-86 victory over the Bears Thursday night ended an eight-game road losing streak for the Cardinals. It also left them in first place in the SLC East at 3-1, and as the only team with less than two losses. Eight conference teams are either 3-2 or 2-2. “We feel good about our position,†Roccaforte said. “There is still a long way to go, but it’s big to be the only team with one loss. We’ve already made this a successful road trip by winning Thursday, now we’d like to make it a great one.†What’s been really encouraging to Roccaforte is the way his seniors have started to elevate their games. It was a trio of seniors — Lamar Sanders (18 points, 14 rebounds), Darren Hopkins (20 points), Currye Todd (17 points) who paved the way against UCA. The game before, against Sam Houston State, it was Sanders and Matthew Barrow coming up big. “For us to reach our goals, our seniors have to make a big impact,†Roccaforte said. “We are seeing that start to happen. They have been through a conference race, so their is no reason they shouldn’t continue to play well.†The only downer for Lamar in the Central Arkansas game was that junior Justin Nabors couldn’t play. Nabors suffered a shoulder injury against Sam Houston State and his status is considered very iffy for Northwestern State. “We missed him,†Roccaforte said. “He adds a lot to what we do. But we are not going to put him back out there until we think he’s ready.†Lamar, if it can win today, will be in excellent in good shape in the SLC race. The Cardinals have a week before they play again, with McNeese State visiting the Montagne Center. Five of the next seven games after they face the Demons are at home. Lamar Fact Box • When: Saturday, 2 p.m. • Where: Prather Coliseum, (3,400), Natchitoches, La • Records: LU 3-1, 9-8, NWS 3-2, 7-12 • Series: LU leads 19-17 • Last meeting: NWS 78-65 on March 9, 2007 in Aldine • Radio: KVLI (560-AM) • Probable starters: LU: Lamar Sanders 6-6, Sr. (12.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg); Tristan Worrell 6-7, Jr. (3.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg); Kenny Dawkins 5-9, Jr. (14.4 ppg, 4.2 apg); Darren Hopkins 6-2, Sr. (10.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg); Matthew Barrow 6-4, Sr. (8.6 pg, 2.6 rpg); NWS: Trey Gilder 6-9, Sr. (16.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg); Devin White 6-8, Fr. (6.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg); Jerry Moody 6-8, Sr. (5.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg); Dominic Knight 6-3, Fr. (1.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg); Keithan Hancock 5-10, Jr. (7.9 ppg, 1.9 rpg). • LU fast fact: If the Cardinals go overtime again today, it would be only the second time in school history they have played three consecutive OT games. They first did it in the 1996-97 season. • NSW fast fact: The Demons have had Lamar’s number, beating them seven consecutive times over the past three seasons. http://www.panews.com/sports/local_story_025220723.html?start:int=15
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