Seahawks are home Saturday vs. Baton Rouge College

[LamarStatesports]

The Lamar State College-Port Arthur men’s basketball team will be looking for their third straight win Saturday, when the Baton Rouge Community College Bears come to town for a 1 p.m. non-conference game in the Carl Parker Center.

Baton Rouge (8-4 overall) competes in the D-I Mississippi-Louisiana Conference of Region XXIII.

The Seahawks (9-4 overall and 2-3 in Region XIV play) beat the Bears in Baton Rouge, 74-62, in mid-November.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross is very familiar with Baton Rouge head coach Todd Foster. Cross began his coaching career as an assistant for Foster at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge.

“Todd Foster is a great coach. His team gave us a tough game earlier in the season, and we certainly must be ready to play Saturday if we hope to gain another victory over them,” Cross said.

Baton Rouge provides a number of match-up problems that are difficult to overcome, Cross said.

“However, playing at home and having sophomore guard Kavon Rose available are two major pluses for Saturday,”Cross said.

Rose missed the first Baton Rouge game with an ankle injury.

This has been a busy week for Lamar State, beginning Monday with a 79-69 home victory over Delgado Community College.

The Seahawks returned to Region XIV competition Wednesday, defeating Jacksonville College, 83-73.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross opened the week by dismissing leading scorer Leviante Davis from the team for disciplinary reasons.

“I did not like the direction our team was heading as we broke for the holiday. I knew we had to make some changes to be able to contend in our conference and be really good for the post-season tournament in March,” Cross said. “We made some changes in personnel, and we changed our defensive and offensive philosophies. The guys have responded well to the adjustments.”

Lamar State also added a player to the roster Wednesday, when freshman forward Dion Waiters got his first chance to suit up with the Seahawks. Waiters attended the college during the fall and took the necessary classes to become eligible to play in the spring semester.

Cross told his team that they would have to step up to make up for Davis’ 18.5 points per game.

Six Seahawks answered that call Wednesday against Jacksonville.

Kavon Rose and Von Jones led all scorers with 18 points. Roman Vaughn had 12 points; Ahyaro Phillips and Dion Waiters each added 11, while Keenan Coleman contributed 10 points.

“The Jacksonville win came at a time when we really needed a conference victory,” Cross said. “Every Region XIV win is precious because we compete in the toughest junior college conference in the nation, which speaks volumes for Lamar State, both regionally and nationally.”