Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — Freshman Davion Buster came off the bench to score 21 points – including 15 in the second half – as Lamar defeated Stephen F. Austin in a thriller Saturday afternoon, 81-79, in the Montagne Center.

It marks the fourth-straight win over the defending Southland Conference tournament champions, which is the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons that LU has won four consecutive in the series.

“What an entertaining game,” said LU head coach Tic Price. “Stephen F. Austin is a very good basketball team. Those guys have been to the winner’s circle many times. SFA is much better than the record indicates. I thought we did a much better job of guarding the three-point line in the second half. The most interesting stat tonight is we had 23 assists to just nine turnovers.

“I’m most proud of my guys because they stayed the course this afternoon. SFA has an aura about them and you have to overcome that to beat them. You can’t be afraid against SFA. When they went up nine in the first half, we didn’t get rattled. At half time we just talked about doing a better job of filling our gaps,” added Price.

Despite a hot start from the visitors (15-of-29, .517), the Cardinals found away to battle back from an early nine-point deficit to gut out a win. The Cardinals offense was the model of consistency shooting 46 percent both halves (28-of-60, .467), which included a 14-of-34 (.412) effort from three-point range. For the first time in several weeks, the Red and White struggled from the free throw line (11-of-20, .550) but hit just enough to squeak out a two-point victory.

In addition to Buster’s 21 points, senior Nick Garth added 20, while classmate Josh Nzeakor just missed a double-double. Nzeakor struck for 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

“Davion is a sensational freshman,” said Price. “I would like to see him get some consideration for freshman of the year. He had another good game. It was also nice to Josh get going again.”

The Cardinals’ defense stepped up in the second half to limit SFA to a 10-of-26 (.385) performance from the field. LU’s defensive performance was good enough to knock the Lumberjacks to below 50 percent on the night (25-of-55, .455).

The Cards also outrebounded their guests by four, 38-34, and found a huge advantage from their reserves. Big Red’s reserves doubled up SFA’s bench, 28-14.

For all the excitement in the second half, it was a completely different game in the opening 20 minutes. If there was any buzz in the building early it belonged to the guys in the purple uniforms after they built a nine-point lead with just under 4 minutes remaining until halftime. The Lumberjacks took their largest lead of the game following a Kevon Harris steal and layup.

As if the Cardinals could sense the win streak slipping away, they responded with a 10-2 run over the next 2 minutes to trim the deficit down to one, 41-40 with 1:24 remaining, but SFA went into the locker room with a three-point lead following a Davonte Fitzgerald basket with 56 seconds left.

The Lumberjacks got their advantage to as many as six in the second half before LU made a run. Big Red took its first lead of the half when junior Edwin Jeudy saved a possession by banking a three-pointer off the glass with 1 second on the shot clock.

Following the Jeudy basket, the game remained a one possession game until the 1:35 mark when SFA got four consecutive points from Shannon Bogues. The Cardinals responded with two Garth free throws and a Buster three-ball to reclaim a one-point lead with 34 seconds remaining.

The Cardinals managed to get the ball back with 14 seconds and SFA was forced to put Garth on the free throw line. Prior to the free throws, Price inserted freshman Grehlon Easter into the lineup for the final 14 seconds, and it turned out to be the coaching decision of the game. Garth missed both free throws and SFA got the ball back for the final 14 ticks of the clock, but the ‘Jacks would not get off a shot as Easter attacked SFA’s Kevon Harris and stripped him of the ball. Harris fouled junior V.J. Holmes who hit one free throw for the game’s final tally.

The Cardinals will be back in action Saturday when they return home for the regular-season finale against rival McNeese. The game will tip off at 4:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center. The Cardinals will be offering a special $1 ticket for the doubleheader against McNeese. Tickets can be purchased through the LU Ticket Office by calling 880-1715, or by logging onto www.LamarCardinals.com.