Churchill Abass and MJ Thomas each scored 20 points to lead the New Orleans Privateers to an 89-76 win over the Lamar Cardinals at Lakefront Arena on Monday night. Abass achieved a new career-high in scoring, while Thomas recorded his first 20-point game of the season. The Privateers, now with a record of 7-12 overall and 5-5 in conference play, shot 53.7 percent from the field, marking their third highest shooting performance this season.
The game was closely contested in the first half, with nine ties and seven lead changes. New Orleans went on a nine-point run late in the first half, with TJ Cope contributing four points during that stretch. The Privateers also took advantage at the free throw line, making 14 out of 21 attempts compared to Lamar’s four makes.
By halftime, New Orleans led 41-36. Lamar’s Rob Lee Jr., recently named Southland Player of the Week, played only eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.
In the second half, Lamar tied the score twice but never took the lead. Abass made several notable plays including a dunk as New Orleans pulled away. The Privateers finished strong by making their last seven field goals over the final six minutes and forty-two seconds of play. On defense, they held Lamar without a field goal for two separate four-minute periods in the second half. Overall, Lamar shot just 39 percent from the floor.
Five Privateers finished in double figures: Jakevion Buckley had 13 points and eight assists; TJ Cope scored 12 points; Coleton Benson added ten; Thomas collected nine rebounds along with his 20 points; and Abass contributed seven rebounds.
For Lamar, Braden East posted 26 points and 11 rebounds while Andrew Holifield scored 20.
The Privateers’ next game is scheduled for Saturday against McNeese at 4 p.m.
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