Game 31 • Mar. 7, 2020 • 4:30 pm vs. McNeese Beaumont, Texas Montagne Center TV: ESPN3 • Radio: KLVI 560 2019-20 Schedule/Results Battle of the Border Comes to Beaumont (16-14/10-9 SLC) Winners in six of their last seven games, the Lamar University men’s basketball team enters the regular season finale looking to climb another spot in the Southland Confer- November ence standings on the final day of the regular season. LU (16-14/10-9) is currently tied 5 Champion Christian~ W, 86-40 8 Arlington Baptist~ W, 106-61 for fifth in the Southland standings (with Northwestern State) just a game back of Sam 12 at Duquesne L, 66-56 Houston State. Big Red is just a game up on three teams in the conference standings – 15 Mount St. Mary’s~ W, 76-61 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Central Arkansas and Saturday’s opponent McNeese. There 21 at Utah Valley W, 74-68 are nine possible tiebreak scenarios that could possibly involve the Red and White, but 24 at Kentucky L, 81-56 LU can still climb into a tie for fourth in the standings with a win and some help from 26 at UAB L, 57-48 Stephen F. Austin. McNeese (14-16/9-10 SLC) has righted the ship after some mid- 30 at Texas Southern L, 76-73 season struggles. The Cowboys have bounced back from six-straight losses to win two of the past three games but are coming off an 80-56 setback at NichollsWednesday. December Prior to that, McNeese had netted at least 100 points in each of its previous two games. 7 Rice~ W, 73-60 Saturday’s game will tip off at 4:30 p.m. from the Montagne Center. Prior to tip off, the 11 Southern Univ. (N.O.)~ W, 73-56 Cardinals will be recongnizing their two seniors – T.J. Atwood and V.J. Holmes. The 14 at TCU L, 79-50 game will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN3. 18 Southeastern La.*~ W, 79-73 OT 21 at Northwestern State* L, 67-61 Saying Good-Bye to Our Seniors January Seniors T.J. Atwood and V.J. Holmes will be honored prior to Saturday’s game as they 2 at New Orleans* W, 74-67 will be playing their final home game in the LU Red and White. The duo enters Satur- 4 Abilene Christian*~ L, 74-62 day’s rivalry game having won 74 games during their careers and help the Cardinals 8 Nicholls*~ L, 61-52 produce one of the most successful three-year runs in program history. Despite missing 11 at Houston Baptist* W, 102-92 half of his junior season with an injury, Atwood leaves LU with more than 850 point and 15 Sam Houston St.*~ L, 80-75 OT nearly 400 rebounds. He is currently fifth in the league in scoring and 1th1 in rebounds. 18 at A&M-Corpus Christi* L, 64-58 Holmes has been a leader each of the past two seasons. He is among the team leaders 22 at UIW* W, 89-77 averaging 10.4 points per game this season and will leave Lamar with nearly 500 points 25 Stephen F. Austin*~ L, 70-62 in just two seasons. He currently ranks second in the Southland Conference in assists February and steals. 1 at McNeese* W, 96-91 5 Central Arkansas*~ W, 74-67 Lamar University Probable Starters 8 at Abilene Christian* L, 84-49 No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. Hometown PPG RPG Other 12 at Nicholls* L, 69-65 13 Davion Buster G 5-10 150 So.-1L Austin, Texas 14.9 2.7 2.4 apg 15 Houston Baptist*~ W, 79-69 12 V.J. Holmes G 6-4 185 Jr.-TR Jupiter, Fla. 10.4 3.7 4.7 apg 15 T.J. Atwood F 6-6 203 Jr.-2L Beaumont, Texas 16.5 6.8 1.9 apg 19 at Sam Houston State* W, 77-65 5 Avery Sullivan F/C 6-8 220 Jr.-2L Pflugerville, Texas 12.3 8.2 0.9 bpg 22 A&M-Corpus Christi*~ W, 79-62 0 David Muoka C 6-10 210 Fr.-HS Hong Kong 3.2 4.4 1.8 bpg 26 UIW*~ W, 86-66 29 at Stephen F. Austin*~ L, 95-76 Off the Bench No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.-Exp. Hometown PPG RPG Other March 2 Corey Nickerson F 6-7 190 Fr.-HS Houston, Texas 2.5 2.2 0.7 bpg 7 McNeese*~ 4:30 p.m. 3 Ellis Jefferson G 6-0 180 Jr.-TR San Antonio, Texas 5.5 2.1 1.8 spg 11-15 at SLC Championships TBD 10 Dylan Morrison F 6-7 180 Jr.-TR Brampton, Canada 1.1 1.1 0.9 bpg 11 Anderson Kopp G 6-5 190 Fr.-HS Houston, Texas 10.3 3.4 1.4 apg Home Games in Bold *SLC Game ~ESPN3/+ 21 Ayaan Sohail G 6-3 185 Fr.-HS El Paso, Texas 3.5 0.9 0.3 spg $SLC Championships 23 Jordan Wallace F 6-8 185 So.-TR Missouri City, Texas --- --- --- 25 Anthony Cameron F 6-8 270 Jr.-TR Chicago, Ill. 1.0 0.8 0.1 apg Probable starters based on previous game’s starting lineup Lamar University Basketball Game Notes General LU vs. the Cowboys School ................................................................Lamar University When LU steps on the floor at the Montagne Center Saturday Location ................................................................. Beaumont, TX to face McNeese, it will be the 107th all-time meeting in series Founded..................................................................................1923 history. A series that has swung back in favor of the Cardinals in Enrollment ...........................................................................14,783 recent years, LU will be looking for its fourth straight win, and Nicknames .......................................................................Cardinals sixth in the past seven games. The Cards are also looking for Colors ........................................................................Red & White their third series sweep in the past four seasons. The Cardinals Conference .....................................................................Southland hold a 58-48 (.547) all-time mark in the series, a record that National Affiliation ...........................................NCAA Div. I FCS includes a 96-91 victory earlier this season in Lake Charles. The President ......................................................Dr. Kenneth R. Evans Cardinals are 38-14 (.731) all-time against McNeese in Beau- Director of Athletics ....................................................Marco Born mont. Faculty Representative .....................................Dr. Hsing-wei Chu Sr. Woman Administrator ...........................................Helene Thill Defending the Nest Athletics Department ............................................(409) 880-2248 LU has made the Montagne Center one of the toughest venues Ticket Office ..........................................................(409) 880-1715 for opponents to play over the course of its 30-plus year history. Coaching Staff The Cards are 349-167 (.676) all-time in the Montagne Center. Head Coach ......................................Tic Price (Virginia Tech, 1979) LU recorded a program-best 15 home wins in the 1987-88 sea- Record at Lamar/Seasons ................................. 101-94/Fifth Season son and is 10-4 (.714) at home this season and has won each of Record at NCAA Division I ............................268-216/14th Season its past three games at home. Office Phone ................................................................(409) 880-8301 Assistant Coach ...........................................................David Dumars LU in March Assistant Coach .................................................... Brandon Chappell Assistant Coach .............................................................Joey Cantafio The Cardinals are 57-68 (.451) all-time in games played during Director of Operations .................................................Tommy Strine the month of March. Athletic Trainer ............................................................Cameron Hieb Team Information Senior Leadership 2018-19 Overall Record ..............................................................20-13 Senior T.J. Atwood has been on a tear over the course of the 2018-19 SLC Record/Finish ...............................................12-6/T3rd team’s past six games. During that stretch he has scored at least 2018-19 Home Record ..................................................................13-2 20 points four times and is averaging 20.8 per game. He is also 2018-19 Away Record ...................................................................6-10 shooting 62 percent from the field during the recent six-game 2018-19 Neutral Record .................................................................1-1 stretch. Atwood enters the final game of the regular season Starters Returning/Lost ..................................................................1/4 ranked fifth in the league in scoring and 11th in rebounds (6.8 Letterwinners Returning/Lost .......................................................4/9 pg). History First Year of Basketball........................................................... 1951-52 Holmes Sweet Home First Year as a Senior College ...................................................... 1951 One of the most underrated players in the Southland Conference, First Year of Southland Basketball ....................................... 1963-64 senior V.J. Holmes is very quietly putting together a very strong All-Time Record .................................................................. 1,022-909 senior campaign. He is currently fourth on the team averaging All-Time Southland Record ..............................323-286/44 Seasons 10.4 points per game, but ranks second in the Southland Confer- SLC Regular-Season Titles/Last ...............................................9/2008 ence averaging 4.7 assists per game and is second in steals (2.2 SLC Tournament Titles/Last ....................................................4/2012 pg). NCAA Appearances (Division I)/Last ....................................6/2012 Arena Information The Cardinal Rule Facility ......................................................................Montagne Center LU