Box Score Box Score
BEAUMONT, Texas – Kenny Dawkins scored 24 points to lead four players in double figures and Lamar jumped out to an early lead and never trailed as it defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 76-65, in the Southland Conference opener Saturday night at the Montagne Center.
Jay Brown posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for Lamar (10-4, 1-0 SLC) while Coy Custer added 11 and Brandon McThay 10. Southeastern, which dropped its fourth consecutive game, fell to 6-8 and 0-1 in SLC play.
Lamar scored the first eight points of the game as Tristan Worrell hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and Ashton Hall added a 3-pointer. The Cardinals built a 13-3 lead on a 3-pointer by McThay and built a 19-5 advantage on a layup by Hall with 12:02 remaining in the first half.
Southeastern, which shot 29 percent in the first half, got as close as 21-15 on a layup by
Chris Cyprian with 7:17 remaining but Lamar pushed the lead back to double digits as a 3-pointer by Dawkins gave the Cardinals a 29-17 lead at the 4:04 mark.
Lamar, which led 34-24 at halftime, scored six straight points after a
Kevyn Green layup that got Southeastern to within 34-26. Worrell converted a three-point play and Dawkins followed with a 3-pointer to give Lamar a 40-26 lead with 19:03 remaining in the game.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 66-46 on two free throws by Dawkins and took its biggest lead of the night, 72-49, on two free throws by Custer with 6:54 left. Southeastern, which finished 25-for-64 (39 percent) from the floor, outscored Lamar, 16-4, the rest of the way.
Green, playing in his final game as a Lion, led Southeastern with 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting.
Warrell Span added 14 points for Southeastern while
David Ndoumba pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Southeastern will return to action on Wednesday when it hosts in-state rival Northwestern State, a 69-60 loser to Nicholls State, in a 7 p.m. contest at the University Center.
SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (6-8, 0-1 SLC)
Green 9-19 4-4 24; Span 6-13 0-0 14; Sullivan 3-5 2-3 8; Fortenberry 2-7 1-2 7; Cyprian 2-4 0-0 5; Tibbs 1-7 1-2 3; Patterson 1-4 0-0 2; Ndoumba 1-3 0-2 2; Pope 0-0 0-0 0; Forest 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-64 8-13 65.
LAMAR (10-4, 1-0 SLC)
Dawkins 8-15 4-4 24; Brown 4-9 2-2 12; Custer 4-6 2-4 11; McThay 4-13 0-0 10; Hall 3-6 2-2 9; Worrell 3-8 1-1 7; Harper 1-2 0-0 2; Miles 0-1 1-2 1; Mahoney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 12-15 76.
Halftime – Lamar 34, SLU 24. 3-point goals – SLU 7-16 (Span 2-2; Fortenberry 2-3; Green 2-7; Cyprian 1-1; Forest 0-1; Tibbs 0-2), Lamar 10-21 (Dawkins 4-7; Brown 2-5; McThay 2-5; Hall 1-2; Custer 1-1; Miles 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds – SLU 36 (Ndoumba 7), Lamar 41 (Brown 12). Assists – SLU 15 (Fortenberry 6), Lamar 21 (Dawkins, Hall 5). Total fouls – SLU 17, Lamar 16. Technical fouls - None. A – 3,487.
