BEAUMONT, Texas — Freshman Nate Calmese scored a game-high 23 points and classmate Jason Thirdkill, Jr., just missed a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as New Orleans escaped the Montagne Center with an 84-79 victory.
The Cardinals shot better than 48 percent from the field converting 25-of-52 (.481) attempts on the night, including eight three-pointers. Big Red also got the job done at the free throw line. The Privateers put Lamar on the line 24 times and the Cardinals converted nearly 88 percent of their makes.
UNO was 28-of-60 (.467) from the field but struggled from long-range knocking down just 4-of-21 (.190) three-point attempts. The Privateers nearly matched Big Red’s effort at the stripe sinking 24-of-29 attempts (.828).
Both teams pulled down 31 rebounds, but the Privateers had a slight edge in terms of offensive rebounds, 15-12.
The biggest stat in the game came from the turnover column. The Cardinals turned the ball over 20 times, while UNO was forced into just 11, which led to a 29-13 advantage in points off turnovers for the visitors.
Despite never gaining the lead in the first half, the Cardinals remained within three possessions for the entire half except for a brief moment where they found themselves down 10. LU responded by scoring four straight to end the half and pull within six.
The second half appeared to reflect the first with New Orleans keeping LU at arm’s length. The Cardinals again found themselves down 10 with 11 to play but didn’t panic. LU began chipping away at the deficit and pulled within three, 70-67, on a Brian Gordon triple with 7:58 to play.
The score remained the same for the next two minutes until Terry Anderson went to the free throw line and converted two attempts to pull LU within a point. UNO followed with a layup from D’ante Bell to push the lead back to three.
After pulling back within one at the free throw line (Thirdkill), the Cardinals forced a turnover as Calmese stepped in the passing lane to take the ball away and race to the other end of the floor for an easy layup. After forcing a miss on the other end, the Cardinals again found Calmese for another layup to take a three-point lead, 77-74, with just over 3:30 to play.
With 1:28 on the clock, the Privateers got two free throws from K’Mani Doughty to trim the deficit down to a single point and then forced a turnover, which led to a layup to reclaim a one-point advantage. The Privateers forced another turnover and cashed it in on the other end of the floor to take a three-point lead and they would hold on as the Cards were held off the scoreboard for the final 2:55.
The Cardinals will close out the regular season Wednesday at Nicholls. The game against the Colonels is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. from Stopher Gym. LU still has a shot at the conference playoffs, but they will need some help. The Cardinals will need to defeat Nicholls and have UIW lose to Northwestern State.