Feb. 22, 2008

In what has become one of the more competitive rivalries in the Southland Conference, Lamar plays host to Northwestern State in Beaumont on Saturday night. The teams have met each of the last three seasons in the semifinals of the SLC Tournament and four weeks ago, the Cardinals snapped a seven-game losing streak with their 91-82 win in Natchitoches.

Cards Can Clinch Share Of East Division Tonight
With Lamar holding a three-game lead over Northwestern State in the loss column, the Cardinals can secure a share of the SLC East Division title with a win tonight. That would give Lamar a four-game lead in the loss column with four games to play and a season sweep of the Demons. Lamar-Northwestern State Series History This will be the 38th meeting between Lamar and Northwestern State (beginning with the 1951-52 season) with the Cardinals holding a 20-17 all-time series advantage. Lamar is 14-3 in games played in Beaumont, 5-13 in Natchitoches and 1-1 on a neutral court. Prior to last month's 91-82 Lamar win at Prather Coliseum, Northwestern State had won the previous seven in the series, including three SLC Tournament games. Lamar's last win had been a 89-84 decision on Feb. 3, 2005 in Natchitoches. The Demons have won eight of the last 11 meetings. Prior to that, Lamar had won eight of nine in the series. Lamar is 11-11 against NWLA since returning to the SLC.

Scouting Northwestern State
Northwestern State enters Saturday's game at 12-14 overall and 8-4 in Southland play. Following their loss to Lamar, the Demons won four straight before falling to Stephen F. Austin, 67-59 last Saturday and then defeating McNeese State, 81-71, on Thursday. The Demons have struggled away from home, fashioning a 4-10 mark away from Prather Coliseum compared to a 6-2 record at home. They have won three consecutive road games though.

Senior forwards Trey Gilder (16.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg) and Colby Bargeman (11.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg) are the leading scorers and rebounders for the Demons. Gilder leads the team in FT shooting at 79 percent thanks in part to his 145 attempts - nearly 26 percent of the entire roster. No NWLA player averages more than 27.5 minutes per game and 12 log at least 10 per contest.

As a team, NWLA averages 73.7 ppg on 43 percent shooting. They are allowing their opponents to average 80.4 ppg on 46 percent shooting. Those numbers are skewed a bit considering that in their 11 league games the Demons are limiting the opposition to 42 percent shooting and have a plus-1.8 scoring margin.

Cards Run Win Streak To Nine
Lamar enters Saturday's game having won nine-consecutive games, marking the longest such streak since the 1987-88 team rattled off nine-straight in the middle of their season. With all nine coming in league action, it is the longest streak during conference play since the 1983-84 team win its final nine en route to an 11-1 mark and the last regular-season championship in school history. Their streak is currently tied for the seventh-longest in the country.
Lamar All-Time Single-Season Win Streaks
15 - 1968-69
13 - 1983-84
12 - 1963-64, 62-63
10 - 1960-61*
9 - 2007-08, 87-88, 83-84, 81-82, 80-81, 61-62
8 - 1980-81
7 - 1982-83 2x, 64-65, 56-57
The 1960-61 team closed the season with 10-consecutive wins and opened the 1961-62 season with two more for a multi-year streak of 12.

Active NCAA Winning Streaks
1. Memphis, 26
2. Davidson, 16
3. Wright St., 11
4. Connecticut, 10
Cornell, 10
. Robert Morris, 10
7. BYU, 9
Butler, 9
Lamar, 9
Portland St., 9
Xavier, 9

Barrow, Mahoney Out For The Season
Senior G Matthew Barrow and sophomore G Shane Mahoney will not play for the Cardinals the remainder of the season. Barrow was averaging 8.9 points over the first 20 games, which included ten starts. In the seven Southland Conference games prior to the injury, he was scoring 11.1 ppg. In three seasons, the Baton Rouge, La., native had tallied 750 points and made 116 3-point field goals. He injured his right knee late in the first half at Nicholls State on Feb. 7. Mahoney played in all 28 games as a true freshman in 2006-07 and scored 26 points in 6.9 minutes per outing. The native of Redondo Beach, Calif. has not played in any games this season.