BEAUMONT — An extra hour before curfew made a lot of difference for the Lamar men’s basketball team Friday night.

Junior Colton Weisbrod asked coach Tic Price for the extra time so the players could work on their game following Thursday’s overtime loss to New Orleans.

“When you go to the gym and put in a lot of extra work, it’s going to pay off,” Weisbrod said. “Everbody’s in there getting extra work in, and it’s showing.”

Weisbrod and the Cardinals were richly rewarded. He set a Lamar career high of 34 in helping the Cards beat Southeastern Louisiana 74-54 before 1,988 in the Montagne Center on Saturday.

“We were hungry to compete, play hard and show we have some winners on this team,” he said. “We’ve got some real great kids on this team. The day after that loss, everybody’s back in that gym — twice. We’ve got the right pieces in place. We’ve got the right kids on the team.”

Said Price: “The ability of this team to bounce back speaks volumes about the character of this team.”

Weisbrod, the Nederland graduate and recent Lamar State College Port Arthur All-American, was jokingly asked if he was afraid of being outscored by Moe Kinard, who had 31 points in the Cardinal women’s victory over SELA earlier Saturday. Weisbrod said he was unaware of Kinard’s total but congratulated her.

It was the first time since Kevin Booze’s 35-point game against Abilene Christian on Feb. 9, 2015, a

Lamar player had even broken the 30-point mark. Weisbrod went for 30 or more five times at LSCPA, registering a high of 39 against Houston Community College on Nov. 11, 2015.

Weisbrod sank 14 of 19 field-goal attempts and 6 of 7 free throws. He nearly struck his seventh points-rebounds double-double of the season with eight boards.

It was a strong performance for the 6-foot-5 forward, who got many of his touches in the low blocks.

No other Cardinal scored in double figures. Torey Noel scored nine points, threw in three assists and made three steals.

“[Weisbrod] was hot, so I kept feeding him,” Noel said. “He got [25] in the first half? Why not go back to him?”

AT THE HALF
Weisbrod had 25 points in the first half, when the Cards (10-6, 2-1 Southland) led 44-26. He hit 10 of 11 from the field and 5 of 6 from the line at that point.

In the locker room, he said, teammates were half-jokingly urging him to score 40. Alan Daniels last scored that for Lamar against Louisiana-Monroe on Feb. 25, 2006 (and had 41 at Memphis that season on Nov. 28, 2005).

“There wasn’t anybody saying, ‘Hey, look at me. I’m wide open,’” Weisbrod said. “Everybody is cheering for each other. That’s something you can see in this team each year.”

SELA (9-8, 2-2) then scored the first points of the second half to pull within 44-33, but got no closer the rest of the way.

DE-FENSE … DE-FENSE …
Lamar beat SELA at its game — defense.

The Lions led the Southland in scoring defense at 68.5 points per game allowed before Saturday’s game.

Lamar held a team that averaged 74.2 points per game to 54, forcing SELA into 22 turnovers.
Josh Nzeakor had five blocks and two steals, Zjori Bosha swatted four shots and Noel made three swipes.
How hungry was Lamar defensively?

“Starving,” Noel said. “We wanted to bounce back. It starts on defense to get our offense going.”
Jabbar Singleton led SELA with 13 points.

NEXT FOR LAMAR
Lamar will complete a three-game home stand with a 7 p.m. game Wednesday against Incarnate Word. UIW’s Cardinals (6-9, 1-3) lost 87-72 at New Orleans in San Antonio on Saturday.
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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews