The Colonels faced a “tall” order, to say the least, in a 74-62 loss to the Lamar Cardinals last Thursday evening. The Cardinals were a little quicker, a little faster and much bigger than the Colonels.
“This was one of the first games that we came into and did not have our pop,” Colonel head coach, Ricky Blanton said.
“We did not have our step, our energy and the balance that we normally have. I think we were still kind of sluggish from the San-Antonio game last week, and it affected our approach a little bit.”
The Colonels (3-19, 1-13 SLC) tried to slow down the Cardinals (10-6, 6-6 SLC) by building an eleven-point lead early in the first-half. However, the Cardinals quickly brought the Colonels back to earth by going on a 22-9 rampage.
“We did get out to a quick start, but it was somewhat deceiving because we were making our shots. Overall, they made more opportunities for themselves than we did for ourselves. We played well, but we just were not our normal selves tonight. Lamar obviously had a lot to do with as well,” Blanton said.
The Colonels went blow for blow with the Cardinals, but guards Eddie Robinson and Ron Austin were just too powerful in the frontcourt. The Cardinals also made sure that they had a firm grasp on the tempo of the game.
“We pulled together in the end. Nicholls played hard and was very competitive, but we turned our game up a notch, and pulled away. We realized that we were playing down to the competition,” Robinson said.
“The crowd was really into it tonight, but we have experienced seniors on this team. We were definitely up for the challenge.”
The Cardinals had a sizable advantage down low with forward Damany Hendrix and center Brian Rowan in the post.
Cardinals Head coach Mike Deane said that his guys did an excellent job of pushing the ball up the court and exploiting the lack of size of the Colonels.
“Well, we knew that our height was one of our definite strengths tonight. We took advantage of the transition game and we often had our big guys in excellent post positions,” Deane said.
Senior guard Earnest Porter kept the Colonels in contention by posting 22 points on the night. Also putting forth a strong performance was senior forward Damien Lennon, who scored all of his points from three-point land.
Sophomore forward Eric James was very active on the glass by pulling down seven rebounds.
“I am very proud of the way our guys battled down low. We will only continue to improve,” Blanton said.
Sophomore forward Dominique Geason did not have the assistance of junior forward Anthony Wilcher, who sat out of the game due to a coaching decision.
“We really missed Anthony’s play down low tonight. It was like we went into the game without our complete arsenal. I still commend coach Blanton on always preaching to us the importance of playing hard no matter what the circumstances,” Geason said.
The same sentiments were felt by junior guard Markeith Brown.
“We will always posses a “never-give-up” mentality. That is an attitude that will never be taken away from us.”
The Colonels shot 38 percent from the floor, 25 percent from downtown and 64 percent free-throw line.
The Cardinals shot a solid 52 percent from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc and an outstanding 88 percent from the charity stripe.
They also out-rebounded the Colonels 32-30. All five starters for the Cardinals finished in double figures, with Hendrix leading the scoring with 20 points.

Sam Houston 76 Nicholls State 65

The Colonels played tough, but fell to Sam Houston on Saturday night. The Colonels played a very competitive game, but once again could not close the deal.
“I think it is unfortunate that the game slipped away from us, but I am proud of our kids because we played one of the best teams in the league, and we almost beat them,” head coach, Ricky Blanton, said.
“We got to the point where the game was about six or seven minutes, the balance of the game was ours.”
The Colonels shot 40 percent from the field, and grabbed 38 rebounds. A big positive for the Colonels was the free throw shooting. They shot 90 percent on the night.
Blanton said this team is very close to where they want to be for the remainder of the season.
“We just have to get a little positive reinforcement and start believing. We need to re-establish some of our beliefs and confidence because we are doing the right things,” Blanton said.