Cards overcome off-court woes to defeat Colonels

Head coach Pat Knight suspended forward Charlie Harper after he was arrested on Jan. 26 and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Lamar also lost guard Tre Lynch who was declared academically ineligible.

 

Guard Anthony Miles said that Knight called a team meeting following Harper's arrest.

 

"He just said that it is up to us if we want to have another season like last year," Miles said. "We have to get more mentally focused. We lost Tre and we lost Charlie and it seemed like everything was going downhill. I'm glad we got this win to give us something positive going forward."

 

The Cards started off slowly, going 3:04 before scoring their first basket. Nicholls jumped up to a 10-6 lead before Lamar scored nine-straight points. Knight took the blame for the Cards' sluggish start.

 

"The screw-up was mine, at the beginning," he said. "(Nicholls) were getting lay-ups and I got too cute with the defense. The big adjustment came after the first timeout. We just went to not switching and playing regular defense."

 

Knight said he went with a smaller lineup to help keep up with Nicholls' smaller team.

 

"Our bigs kind of got stuck in the middle of the switches," Knight said. "There was just a cluster of guys there. The way (Nicholls) plays, they don't have a post threat, so we had to go to the smaller lineup."

 

The Cards made life difficult for the Colonels, shooting a season-high 61 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc. 

 

Miles said taking better shots and working on fundamentals in practice contributed to the Cards' offensive performance.

 

In the second half, Lamar continued their dominance, outscoring Nicholls State 41-32. Miles said Knight wanted to hold the Colonels below the 60-point mark.

 

"(Knight) didn't want to make it a game," Miles said. "Coach said, ‘We are up 15 at the half, let's put our foot on their throats and take care of the win we are supposed to get.'"

 

Knight said Saturday's game was one of his team's most efficient of the season, only turning the ball over nine times to 18 assists.

 

Miles said his team is focused, with one goal in mind.

 

"We have 10 games left and we're trying to win all 10," he said.

 

For Knight, there are fundamental keys to success.

 

"It's pretty simple — you have to win," he said. "We have to stick with how we're playing defense and be smart on offense — and don't try and be like Cheech and Chong."

 

The team played Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday. The result was unavailable at press time. For the score, visit lamaruniversitypress.com. 

 

The Cards' next game is Saturday against UTSA at 2 p.m. in the Montagne Center.