Box Score

BEAUMONT, Texas – Lamar's Anthony Miles scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures and the Cardinals used an 18-4 run to open the game and defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 70-54, in a Southland Conference game Wednesday at the Montagne Center.

Mike James added 17 points while Devon Lamb and Charlie Harper added 11 each as Lamar (17-9, 8-4 SLC) built an 18-point lead in the first half and led by as many as 21. Southeastern, which will host Ohio Valley Conference member UT Martin in the Sears Bracketbusters on Saturday at 6 p.m., fell to 9-15 overall and 3-9 in the Southland Conference.

Onochie Ochie scored on a pair of putbacks to give Southeastern an early lead before a jumper by Lamb gave Lamar a 5-4 lead it would not relinquish. That opened a 15-0 run by the Cardinals as they stretched their lead to 18-4 on a jumper by Stan Brown with 12:06 remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals would push their lead to 29-11 on a jumper by Miles at the 6:27 mark before Southeastern chipped away at the lead. The Lions closed out the half on a 14-5 run as a jumper in the lane by Jeremy Campbell cut the lead to 34-25 at halftime.

Roosevelt Johnson got Southeastern as close as 34-27 on a basket on the Lions' opening possession of the second half, but Lamar pushed the lead to 43-28 that was capped by a layup by Lamb, who also posted a double with 10 rebounds.

Harper gave Lamar its biggest lead of the game, 64-43, on a jumper with 5:56 remaining and the Lions never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

Johnson scored 16 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to lead Southeastern, which finished 20-for-56 from the floor and 0-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc. Campbell added 10 points – all in the first half for the Lions – while Donovan Ross added seven points.

Lamar, which improved to 11-1 at home and clinched a berth in the Southland Conference Tournament, finished 28-for-58 from the floor and 11-for-20 from the free throw line.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (9-15, 3-9)
Johnson 6-12 6-6 18; Campbell 4-7 2-2 10; Ross 3-3 1-2 7; Bailey 1-8 4-6 6; Ochie 3-7 0-0 6; Patterson 2-7 1-2 5; Populist 1-8 0-0 2; Petrovcic 0-0 0-0 0; Nelson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 14-18 54.

LAMAR (17-9, 8-4)
Miles 6-12 6-7 18; James 8-16 0-0 17; Harper 4-10 3-5 11; Lamb 5-7 0-2 11; Brown 3-7 2-4 8; Davis 1-5 0-0 3; Ebomwonyi 1-1 0-0 2; Nelson 0-0 0-2 0; Minor 0-0 0-0 0; Acosta 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 11-20 70.

Halftime – Lamar 34, SLU 25. 3-point goals – SLU 0-11 (Campbell 0-1; Ochie 0-1; Patterson 0-1; Populist 0-4; Nelson 0-4), Lamar 3-7 (James 1-2; Davis 1-4; Lamb 1-1). Fouled out - Johnson. Rebounds – SLU 37 (Johnson 12), Lamar 36 (Lamb 10). Assists – SLU 6 (Patterson 3), Lamar 10 (Harper, Miles 3). Total fouls – SLU 16, Lamar 13. Technical fouls - Bailey. A – 2,577.