Lamar sports information

CARBONDALE, Ill. – Lamar struggled to find an answer to a hot-shooting Southern Illinois squad Sunday afternoon as the Salukis defeated LU, 71-61, in the first-game of the Cardinals’ season-long four-game road swing. The loss snapped the Cards’ season-long five-game win streak.

“You have to give all the credit to Southern Illinois tonight,” said LU head coach Tic Price. “They made plays when they needed them and we didn’t. They simply wanted it more than we did. We really struggled to stop them in the paint, outscoring us by 10 points in that category. High expectations have been placed on this team and we have to be able to answer the call night in and night out. We didn’t do that tonight.”

The Cardinals finished the night shooting 38.5 percent from the field, but were held to an 8-of-27 (.296) performance in the opening half. Big Red was able to keep the game close by knocking down four first-half threes and holding their own on the glass. Big Red went into the locker room leading SIU on the boards, 19-17.

The Cardinals struggled to hold onto the ball in the first half turning it over 10 times, and only able to force SIU into five mistakes. The Cards managed to limit the damage from their mistakes as SIU could only convert the 10 turnovers into six points, while LU scored eight points off the Salukis miscues.

Southern Illinois recorded one of their best shooting performances of the season knocking down 30-of-55 (.545) attempts, including six three-pointers. Neither team took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line as both ended the night shooting less than 50 percent from the stripe.

The Cardinals had just two players score in double figures – seniors Colton Weisbrod and Zjori Bosha. Both ended the game with 14 points, while Weisbrod pulled down a game-high 19 rebounds. The Salukis were led by Sean Lloyd’s 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting.

The Cardinals scored the first four points of the game, but Southern Illinois responded with a 12-0 run taking their first lead of the game – it would be the first and only lead change of the afternoon. LU got a basket from Josh Nzeakor at the 10:07 mark to stop the run, but the Salukis didn’t let up pushing their advantage to 13 points before Big Red could dent scoreboard again with a T.J. Atwood free throw.

The Cardinals cut the deficit down to nine points several times in the first half, and had a chance for a momentum changing play when senior Joey Frenchwood sank a three-pointer from the top of the key and got fouled with 4:55 remaining in the half. The potential four-point play would’ve cut the deficit to nine points but the free throw was off the mark and SIU responded with a basket at the other end of the floor.

Big Red got another three-pointer from Frenchwood which trimmed the lead to single digits, 29-20, with just under four to play but the Salukis outscored LU, 7-3, in the closing minutes of the half to take a 14-point lead into the locker room.

The Cardinals got a steal and basketball from Bosha to start the second half, followed by a layup from junior Josh Nzeakor but found themselves down by a greater margin than at halftime as the Salukis opened the half knocking down 5-of-6 attempts. The Salukis would see their lead grow to as many as 20 (50-30/15:25) before LU mounted comeback.

After a layup from Weisbrod, the Cardinals got an and-one from Bosha trimming the deficit to 15 points with 14:30 to play. LU was still down by 15 with just under eight remaining when it got a three-pointer from sophomore Nick Garth. The three-ball sparked a 9-2 run as the Cardinals trimmed the lead to eight points with just under five remaining. The Red and White had the ball and got a high percentage shot from Frenchwood which rimmed out and the Salukis took advantage by scoring the game’s next six points. The LU miss put an end to the Cards’ rally as they were outscored by two points the rest of the way.

The Cardinals return to action Tuesday when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne. The game against the Dukes will tip off at 6 p.m. and can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI.