SAN ANTONIO – Junior Andrew Francis scored 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds, but James Davis led four Lamar players in double figures as the Cardinals held off UTSA, 71-59, Saturday night in the Southland Conference opener for both teams at the Convocation Center.
Davis, the league’s leading scorer at 18.0 points per game, poured in 15 points, while Matthew Barrow (14), Darren Hopkins (13) and Lawrence Nwevo (10) also reached double digits for the Cardinals (7-8, 1-0 SLC).
Francis turned in a season-high 14 on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and a 6-for-9 night from the free throw line. Junior Isaiah Allen added 11 points for the Roadrunners (4-10, 0-1 SLC).
Both teams were hampered by foul trouble. Senior Kurt Attaway and junior Keith Spencer fouled out for UTSA, while Davis and Lamar Sanders received five whistles apiece for Lamar. The two teams combined for 52 fouls, including 36 in the second half.
Playing their first home game in 28 days, the Roadrunners got off to a slow start offensively, going scoreless until an Attaway jumper at the 15:34 mark. UTSA trailed by as many as nine in the half, but fought back to within 24-20 as a Spencer layup with 1:22 left capped a 6-1 run. Sanders drained a trey from the left corner with 50 ticks remaining to provide the halftime score, 27-20.
The Cardinals built their lead to 13 on a Todd Currye 3-pointer at the 17:32 mark, but an Aldric Reynolds reverse layup at the 11:55 mark cut the deficit to six at 45-39, finishing off a 15-8 run.
Again Lamar pushed the lead back to double digits only to have UTSA pull to within 53-47 on a Francis free throw with 8:12 remaining. Lamar pulled away from there for the 12-point victory.
The Roadrunners hit the road for a pair of league contests next week, playing at Central Arkansas on Thursday, Jan. 11, and Northwestern State two days later.
