San Jac halt Lamar State's eight-game win streak

[LamarStatesports]

The Lamar State College-Port Arthur men’s basketball team has a week off after Wednesday’s 78-59 loss San Jacinto College.

The young 8-1 Seahawks will take that time to prepare for their next Region XIV action, a 7 p.m. home game Wednesday against Angelina College.

They also will think about their lost opportunity to win two straight games against nationally-ranked teams and extend their eight-game win streak that began the season.

Wednesday in Pasadena, Lamar State tried to follow its Nov. 11 win over No. 25-ranked Lon Morris College with a victory against the No. 18-ranked San Jacinto College Ravens.

The unbeaten Ravens, now 11-0, demonstrated why they moved up eight places in this week’s NJCAA national poll, as they won easily and handed the Seahawks their first loss of the year.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross said his team’s youth and experienced contributed to the loss.

“We also got no productivity out of our two sophomore transfers,” Cross said. “On two occasions we had the opportunity to get over the hump and take San Jac to the wire. But we were unable to sustain any momentum.”

Cross said San Jacinto is a team worthy of respect.

“You have to give credit to San Jac for controlling the tempo of the game, playing to their strengths and being tough enough to protect their home court,” Cross said. “The Ravens showed why they are 18th in the nation.”

Cross said his team had an excellent start, and will continue to work on improving every day because the most important games are yet to come.

“A sign of a great team is the ability to bounce back after a defeat and the willingness to find ways to get better,” Cross said. “We will take a few days off for Thanksgiving and come back refreshed with a great opportunity to win our remaining games leading into our holiday break.”

Lamar State has four games left in 2009, including conference games at home against Angelina (Dec. 2) and at Blinn College in Brenham (Dec. 5).

The Seahawks also will play non-conference contests at Delgado Community College in New Orleans (Dec. 7) and at Lone Star College-Tomball (Dec. 12) before taking off for the holidays.

Lamar State returns to action to begin the year at home Jan. 4 against Delgado, followed two days later with a home conference game with Jacksonville College.