As the Lamar Cardinals can only ponder what’s in their immediate future, associate head coach Bobby Kummer hit the rewind button for a look back on the season that was … up to this point.

“This team started off 1-4 in conference, and the fight that they gave us, the commitment, I think coach [Tic Price] has done a phenomenal job with the effort,” Kummer said. “If you think back on college athletics across the country when teams start that way, it’s hard to get the younger guys to keep their focus and keep their mindset. The job that he did and the way this team pulled together, it was an unbelievable attribute to them. They’re a very tough team, very focused team, and we’re very proud of them.”

Kummer spoke for Price, who had lost his voice after the University of New Orleans pulled out a 76-72 win over Lamar on Thursday in the Southland Conference tournament quarterfinal at the Katy ISD’s Leonard E. Merrell Center. The Cardinals (20-13) had trailed 42-28 before going on a 12-0 run to close the first half.

“We’ve been in this situation many times,” Lamar senior forward Josh Nzeakor said. “We’ve had a lot of close games this year, so we have guys who are experienced and know what to do with the ball. … It’s a game of runs. Each team made their run, and we were able to do that and get back in, but unfortunately we weren’t able to close it out.”

Now, New Orleans (19-12) is one win away from a second NCAA tournament berth in three years after upsetting Southland regular-season champion Sam Houston State 79-76 on Friday. The fourth-seeded Privateers were tied with No. 3-seed Southeastern Louisiana and No. 5-seed Lamar for third in Southland standings, but both UNO and SLU had beaten Lamar, costing the Cards a first-round bye.

The Cardinals (20-13), who had won nine in a row, were just 50 seconds away from reaching their first semifinal round since winning the 2012 Southland tournament under Pat Knight. It would have been another step forward for a team that had been stuck on 19 victories each of the past two seasons.

A goaltending call on a Nzeakor putback put Lamar ahead 72-71, but Bryson Robinson sank a three-point shot with 21.7 seconds left, and after Davion Buster missed a three-ball from the right wing with about 3 seconds left, Damion Ross capped the Privateers’ win with two free throws.

“We wanted to drive, but [V.J. Holmes] was so far back,” Buster said. “But that was a good play by V.J. for him to give me the ball, but it didn’t go in.”

The loss overshadowed a 28-point performance by senior guard Nick Garth.

“I wanted to give a good performance,” Garth said. “It didn’t amount to the win, but I went out there and gave it my all with my teammates. Just tried to give it my all tonight.”

Robinson and Nzeakor were teammates at Mesquite High School in suburban Dallas.

 

NEXT UP

The Cardinals will await an invitation to either the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, where it lost in the first round each of the past two seasons, or College Basketball Invitational. Such invitation is likely to come by Monday, the day after the NCAA and National Invitation Tournament release their tournament fields.

UNO will play either Abilene Christian or Southeastern Louisiana at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the Southland title bout. New Orleans won the tournament in 2007 and lost by one point to Mount St. Mary’s in the NCAA First Four.

Southeastern lost to Stephen F. Austin in the 2018 Southland final, 59-55. Abilene Christian, which joined Division I in 2012, has only made one national tournament since, losing 80-73 in overtime to Drake in last year’s CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Sam Houston State will settle for an NIT berth, guaranteed to every regular-season conference champion.

 

LAMAR WOMEN’S CHANCE

A second straight Southland regular-season championship in women’s basketball has earned Lamar (24-5) another double bye in the Southland tournament.

The Cards are hoping to reach the championship round for the first time since winning the 2010 title. They’ll take on fourth-seed Abilene Christian, who beat Central Arkansas 82-54 on Friday in the quarterfinal round, with tipoff set for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Breanna Wright, Lexie Ducat (14 points each) and Sara Williamson (11) reached double figures for the Wildcats (21-9), who shot 49.2 percent and held UCA (12-18) to 33.9 percent shooting.

Lamar defeated ACU 63-60 on Feb. 6 in Abilene, after trailing 42-34 through three quarters.

Stephen F. Austin and sixth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will square off in the other semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be webcast on ESPN+.

Sunday’s title game will air live on CBS Sports Network starting at 1 p.m. KLVI-AM 560 will broadcast the LU women’s game(s).

•

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

 

**CORRECTION: Stephen F. Austin lost the 2018 women’s title game to Nicholls State.**