Lamar State plays at Paris JC on Saturday

[LamarStatesports]

The Lamar State College-Port Arthur men’s basketball returns to the road this Saturday for a 2 p.m. conference game at Paris Junior College.

Lamar State climbed to 14-3 overall and 3-3 in Region XIV action this past Saturday with an 88-76 home win over Blinn College.

Sophomore guard Vonn Jones hit 18 first-half points and ended the night with 29 points, his best ever performance as a Seahawk.

Freshman guard David Laury put up 21 points, and sophomore wing Keenen Coleman added 17.

LSC-PA head coach Matt Cross said, “Vonn finally is reaching the high level of play we expected in his entire sophomore year. He carried his team to a victory. Blinn really had no answer for him.”

Cross believes his sophomores will carry the team to a conference championship and a berth in the national championship tournament.

“This sophomore class has turned this program around over the past year and a half,” Cross said. “They have 34 wins and 14 losses. They are 13-13 in conference games over two seasons, which really is impressive considering how tough this conference is.”

Cross believes his team is ready for Paris, one of four Region XIV teams the Seahawks have not defeated since Lamar State joined the conference in 2008. The others are Kilgore College, Trinity Valley College and Tyler Junior College.

Paris (12-3, 3-3) is coming off three straight conference wins, the latest a 60-53 victory over Kilgore College.

“This will be the first game this season that our team will be at full strength,” Cross said, noting that nagging injuries plagued the Seahawks since November. “Everyone’s healthy now, and we will have more depth with the addition of Darrion Booker.”

Booker, a sophomore forward from Whitmire, South Carolina, was ineligible to play during the fall, but worked out with the team and attended classes.

“Darrion hasn’t played in a college game in two years, and I know he has been anxiously waiting his return,” Cross said. “He will add some punch on the inside that will put us over the hump.”

Booker comes from a family of accomplished basketball players. His older brother, Trevor, plays for Clemson University and now in the NBA with the Washington Wizards. His younger brother, Devin, is at Clemson. His cousin, Jordan Hill, is a center for the NBA Houston Rockets.

“Darrion has had to spend his career in the shadow of his two brothers,” Cross said. “I'm excited that he has been able to withstand some adversity in his life, and now he has the chance to start anew and begin to make his mark on college basketball like his brothers.”

Lamar State will be home next Wednesday for a 7 p.m. conference game against Panola College.