March 5, 2008
Lamar will play host to Nicholls State on Thursday night in its final home game of the season. Prior to the contest, seniors Darren Hopkins, Lamar Sanders and Currye Todd will be recognized. At halftime, the athletic department will honor the achievements and present championship trophies and rings to the 2007 Cardinal cross country and volleyball teams that won SLC titles in the fall.
Lamar To Play For First Regular-Season Conference Title Since 1984
With one more victory (or a Stephen F. Austin loss) Lamar would clinch at least a share of the Southland Conference regular-season championship, marking its first since the 1983-84 season. The Cardinals won the SLC Tournament in 2000 to advance to the NCAA Tournament but finished the league schedule that year with an 8-10 record. Lamar has won 11 conference championships in 56 previous seasons.
2007-08 Home Slate Produces Record Win Totals
Lamar enters the home finale with a 13-2 record. The 13 wins are tied for the fifth-most in a season at Lamar and the second-most in the 24-year history of the Montagne Center. Lamar 24-5 (.828) under coach Roccaforte.
Lamar Single-Season Home Win Totals
15: 1987-88
14: 1979-80, 78-79, 63-64
13: 2007-08, 1977-78
Lamar's 12-game home winning streak is currently the 13th-longest in the nation.
Lamar-Nicholls State Series History
This will be the 23rd meeting between Lamar and Nicholls State with the Cardinals holding a 19-3 all-time series advantage. Lamar is 12-0 in games played in Beaumont, 6-3 in Thibodaux and 1-0 on a neutral court. Lamar won the first game this season, 72-68 in overtime, in Stopher Gym on Feb. 7. The teams split their two meetings a year ago, with each holding serve at home. Lamar won the early meeting, 89-82, on Feb. 1 in Beaumont, before Nicholls State made 15 first-half 3-pointers to jump out to a 60-47 halftime lead and hold on for a 105-90 victory. Lamar has won nine of the last 11 meetings. Since returning to the SLC, Lamar is 12-3 vs. Nicholls State..
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Scouting Nicholls State
Nicholls State enters the game 9-20 overall and 4-10 in SLC play, having won two straight and has gone 3-3 since losing to Lamar last month. The Colonels played the sixth-toughest non-conference schedule in the country with contests against Florida State, Tulane, Cal, LSU, New Orleans, Alabama, then-No. 1 North Carolina, Minnesota and UNLV.
Junior Ryan Bathie leads a balanced scoring attack with 13.8 ppg (16.1 in SLC play), 4.1 rpg and 2.1 apg. Freshman Anatoly Bose has 4.8 rpg and senior Adonis Gray has 4.3 rpg, while junior Justin Payne is handing-out a team-best 2.7 apg.
As a team, Nicholls State averages 64.3 ppg on 40.3 percent shooting while allowing 69 ppg overall. They rank fifth in the league in conference games in steals (8.6 per game) and third in turnover margin (+3.14).
Win Streak Ends At 11 For Fourth-Longest In School History
Lamar saw its 11-game win streak come to a close on Saturday but not before it came in as the fourth-longest in school history and fourth-longest in the NCAA at the time of conclusion. With all 11 coming in league action, it marked the longest streak during conference play in school history.
Lamar All-Time Single-Season Win Streaks
15: 1968-69
13: 1983-84
12: 1963-64, 62-63
11: 2007-08
10: 1960-61*
9: 1987-88, 83-84, 81-82, 80-81, 61-62
The 1960-61 team closed the season with 10-consecutive wins and opened the 1961-62 season with two more for a multi-year streak of 12.
Lamar Sets School Record For Consecutive Conference Wins
By virtue of last Wednesday's win at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, the 2007-08 team set the school record for consecutive league wins at 11, previously held by Jack Martin's 1962-63 team at 10.
Fun With Numbers
** Lamar has made 10 or 11 3-pointers in four of its last six games and has made at least eight treys in 11 of its last 12 games.
** Lamar is 8-1 when making at least 10 3-pointers.
** Lamar has scored at least 71 points in 17 straight games
** Lamar Sanders has scored 711 points and grabbed 497 rebounds in his two years at Lamar.
** Kenny Dawkins is 18 points shy of 400 this year.
Nabors & Todd Fill Void Left By Barrow
With the injury to Matthew Barrow, those 23 minutes per game were bound to go somewhere and the two players who have benefitted the most have been junior Justin Nabors and senior Currye Todd - the two guys to start at the `3' spot in the lineup. In the last six games since Barrow went down, Nabors is averaging 14.2 points and 6.3 rebounds, while Todd has averaged 12.8 points. In fact, in Todd's last four games he has tallied 13, 22, 20 and 10 points with the middle two marking his two highest this season. He has also made 12 3-pointers in the last five games. Nabors brings a streak of six-straight games scoring in double-figures as he has increased his scoring output from 10.6 ppg to a season-best 11.4.
Home Sweet Home
Lamar will play 16 games in the Montagne Center this season. The Cardinals played 14 home games last season, posting an 11-3 record, which ranked as the fifth-best home winning percentage (.786) in the Montagne Center. Since the Montagne Center opened (1984-85), Lamar has won 68.6% of its games in the 10,080-seat arena. Overall, Lamar has won 73.7% of its home games since the 1951-52 season, the Cardinals' first year competing as a four-year institution.
Sanders' .642 FG Pct Ranks Sixth In The Nation
Senior F Lamar Sanders ranks second in the Southland in FG pct with a .642 clip and sixth in the NCAA.
