Lamar Closes Mid-Way Point Of SLC Schedule Against SE Louisiana In The Montagne

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Rad & White have won three overtime games in the last five

Feb. 9, 2008

After surviving its third overtime bout in its last five games, Lamar returns home to the friendly confines of the Montagne Center for a two-game homestand - against Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday and UT-Arlington on Thursday.

Lamar-SE Louisiana Series History

This will be the 32nd meeting between Lamar and SLU with the Cardinals holding an 18-13 all-time series advantage. Lamar is 11-5 in games played in Beaumont, 6-7 in Hammond and 1-1 on a neutral court. The schools split the two meetings a year ago. The Lions won the first game, 73-64, on Feb. 3, 2007 in Hammond, before the Cardinals closed out the regular-season with an 83-64 win before a season-high crowd of 7,497 at the Montagne Center on March 3, 2007. SLU has won nine of the last 13 in the series. Since returning to the SLC, Lamar is 8-10 vs. SLU.

Scouting Southeastern Louisiana

Southeastern Louisiana enters the game with a 13-8 overall record and a 4-3 ledger in Southland Conference games. The Lions opened the season with a 1-1 mark and then rattled-off four-consecutive wins but have struggled to find a consistent rhythm since - going 8-7 with no win streak or losing skid of more than two at a time. They are 4-6 on the road this season and 3-1 in SLC road contests.

Like Lamar, Southeastern will play 9-10 players at least 10 minutes per game. Senior G/F Kevyn Green leads three players in double figures with 15.3 points per game, which also ranks fourth in the SLC. He is posting 18.1 ppg in league action which puts him third. He leads the Lions with 48 3-pointers and ranks fifth in the SLC at 2.5 per game.

As a team, Southeastern averages 68.6 ppg and ranks second in scoring defense, surrendering just 60.3 ppg. They also rank second in FG pct (.475) and rebound margin (plus-7.3).

Overtime Is Our Time!

Well, that's the way it appears as Lamar has won all three of its overtime games this season. Lamar is now 43-38 all-time in overtime games. By virtue of Thursday's win at Nicholls State, the Cardinals set a school-record by capturing their third overtime victory of the year They previously won two OT games in 1969-70, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1981-82, 1994-95, 1996-97 and 1999-2000.

Cards Win Fifth Straight; One More Would Be Longest Since 1987-88

Lamar enters Saturday's game having won five-consecutive games, marking the longest such streak since the 1987-88 team rattled off nine-straight in the middle of their season. Since that time, four teams have had five streaks of five games but none have been able to get the elusive sixth.

Dominance Continues Over Nicholls State

It wasn't easy but in the end, Lamar won for the 19th time in 22 all-time meetings with Nicholls State. The Cardinals hold a 19-3 series edge, marking the most lopsided result against a regularly-played series with a SLC opponent. LU holds a 12-0 lead in the series with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi but prior to last year's win in Beaumont, the teams had played just twice in the previous 35 years.

Good Point Guard Match-Up On Saturday

Well, that may not be entirely true based on what kind of defenses are thrown out there tonight, but make no mistake that Lamar's Kenny Dawkins and Southeastern's Dekryon Nicks rank second and third in the Southland in assist-to-turnover ratio. Dawkins has 85 assists and 46 turnovers for a 1.85 mark, while Nicks has 84 assists and 47 turnovers for a 1.79 ratio. In league games only, Dawkins is first at 2.38 and Nicks third at 1.63.

Hopkins Turning Up The Heat

Senior G Darren Hopkins has turned up his production since league play began six games ago. After 13 non-conference games he was averaging 7.9 points on 32 percent shooting (just 28 percent from outside) and 3.5 rebounds, but in the last six games his numbers have escalated to 13.7 ppg on 45 percent shooting (42 percent from outside) and 6.0 boards

Balanced Scoring Has Been The Key

Through seven conference games, Lamar has five players averaging double figures in scoring with the first and fifth scoring options separated by just 2.4 points per game. In fact, six different players have led the team in scoring over the course of the first seven games.

Best shooters in the league?

Lamar Sanders ranks second in FG Pct at 64.2 pct, Currye Todd is first in 3-Point FG Pct at 47.0 pct and Kenny Dawkins is first in FT Pct. at 87.5 pct. No school has had two players lead the league in FG and FT shooting in the same season, let alone all three categories.

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