# 2018–19 Lamar Cardinals basketball team

    For information on all Lamar University sports, see Lamar Cardinals and Lady Cardinals
The 2018–19 Lamar Cardinals basketball team represented Lamar University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cardinals were led by fifth-year head coach Tic Price and played their home games at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas as members of the Southland Conference.
The Cardinals finished conference play with as 12–6 record in a three-way tie with New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana for third place. The team qualified for the 2019 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament as the fifth seeded team. They won the first-round game against eighth seed Houston Baptist by a score of 81–79. The season ended when the Cardinals were eliminated in the second round by fourth seed New Orleans with a score of 72–76.

## Previous season

The Cardinals finished the 2017–18 season 19–14, 11–7 in Southland play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They lost in the first round of the Southland tournament to Central Arkansas. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to UTSA.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

* Justin Bailey, assistant basketball coach at Lamar from 2016–2018, accepted the head coach position at University of Arkansas–Fort Smith.
* David Dumars joined the Lamar Cardinals basketball staff as assistant coach on August 20, 2018. Dumars had been assistant coach / associate head coach on the McNeese State Cowboys basketball staff from 2002–2018.

### Departures

| Name | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Zjori Bosha | G | 6'5" | 177 | SR | Nome, TX | Graduated |
| Joey Frenchwood | G | 6'1" | 184 | SR | Nederland, TX | Graduated |
| James Harrison | F | 6'5" | 200 | SR-TR | Jacksonville, FL | Graduated |
| Terry Noel | G | 5'10" | 190 | SR | Midwest City, OK | Graduated |
| Colton Weisbrod | F | 6'5" | 218 | SR | Nederland, TX | Graduated |
Sources:

### Player additions

Three players signed letters of intent during the early signing period. Christian Barrett, a transfer, played at Jacksonville College. Barrett will play forward. Davion Buster and Gehlon Easter were high school recruits. Both will play guard. Another transfer, Edwin Jeudy, was announced on March 17, 2018. Jeudy will be transferring from Gillette College. He was ranked number 78 in the 2018 Junior College Basketball Top 100 Player Rankings.
Incoming transfers
| Name | Number | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Christian Barrett | | PF | 6'6" | 220 | Junior | Houston, Texas | Junior college transferred from Jacksonville College |
| Edwin Jeudy | | PF | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Montreal, Canada | Junior college transferred from Gillette College |
2018–19 recruiting class Source:
US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Davion Buster G | Austin, TX | Lanier HS | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Jul 3, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Gehlon Easter G | Little Rock, AR | Mills HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 172 lb (78 kg) | Nov 8, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Roster

Sources:

## TV and radio media

All Lamar games will be broadcast on KLVI, also known as News Talk 560.
Live video of all home games (except those picked up by Southland Conference TV agreements) will be streamed on ESPN3.

## Schedule and results

Sources:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Huston–Tillotson | W 79–59 | 1–0 | Montagne Center (1,559) Beaumont, TX |
| Nov 9, 2018* 6:30 pm, ACC+ | | at Georgia Tech Deep South Showcase | L 69–88 | 1–1 | McCamish Pavilion (4,691) Atlanta, GA |
| Nov 11, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Carolina Deep South Showcase | L 78–84 $^{OT}$ | 1–2 | Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum (3,104) Greenville, NC |
| Nov 17, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Prairie View A&M Deep South Showcase | W 74–67 | 2–2 | Montagne Center (1,837) Beaumont, TX |
| Nov 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Arlington Baptist | W 105–40 | 3–2 | Montagne Center (1,758) Beaumont, TX |
| Nov 23, 2018* 7:00 pm | | at Texas–Rio Grande Valley Deep South Showcase | L 75–77 | 3–3 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (424) Edinburg, TX |
| Nov 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at SMU | L 65–79 | 3–4 | Moody Coliseum (5,611) University Park, TX |
| Dec 1, 2018* 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Rice | W 75–68 | 4–4 | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,926) Houston, TX |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Houston | L 56–79 | 4–5 | Fertitta Center (5,587) Houston, TX |
| Dec 13, 2018* 9:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 65–86 | 4–6 | Icardo Center (1,794) Bakersfield, CA |
| Dec 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Texas Southern | W 80–72 | 5–6 | Montagne Center (1,846) Beaumont, TX |
| Dec 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Howard Payne | W 121–32 | 6–6 | Montagne Center (1,367) Beaumont, TX |
| Dec 29, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Champion Christian | W 122–58 | 7–6 | Montagne Center (1,829) Beaumont, TX |
| Southland Conference regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Houston Baptist | L 82–88 $^{OT}$ | 7–7 (0–1) | Sharp Gymnasium (683) Houston, TX |
| Jan 5, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 61–55 | 8–7 (1–1) | Montagne Center Beaumont, TX |
| Jan 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | New Orleans | L 71–78 $^{OT}$ | 8–8 (1–2) | Montagne Center (1,537) Beaumont, TX |
| Jan 12, 2019 4:00 pm, ELVN / SLC Digital | | at Central Arkansas | L 68–75 | 8–9 (1–3) | Farris Center (714) Conway, AR |
| Jan 16, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Southeastern Louisiana | L 69–76 | 8–10 (1–4) | University Center (605) Hammond, LA |
| Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Incarnate Word | L 81–87 $^{OT}$ | 9–10 (2–4) | Montagne Center (2,464) Beaumont, TX |
| Jan 26, 2019 5:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Sam Houston State | L 59–69 | 9–11 (2–5) | Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum Huntsville, TX |
| Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Nicholls State | W 90–69 | 10–11 (3–5) | Stopher Gymnasium (315) Thibodaux, LA |
| Feb 2, 2019 3:00 pm, ELVN / SLC Digital | | at McNeese State | W 84–75 | 11–11 (4–5) | H&HP Complex (2,492) Lake Charles, LA |
| Feb 6, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Abilene Christian | L 64–75 | 11–12 (4–6) | Montagne Center (2,438) Beaumont, TX |
| Feb 9, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stephen F. Austin | W 82–67 | 12–12 (5–6) | William R. Johnson Coliseum (5,752) Nacogdoches, TX |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northwestern State | W 75–70 | 13–12 (6–6) | Montagne Center (1,860) Beaumont, TX |
| Feb 16, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Sam Houston State | W 75–72 | 14–12 (7–6) | Montagne Center (2,855) Beaumont, TX |
| Feb 20, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Incarnate Word | W 87–81 $^{OT}$ | 15–12 (8–6) | McDermott Convocation Center (2,464) San Antonio, TX |
| Feb 23, 2019 3:30 pm | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 63–58 | 16–12 (9–6) | American Bank Center (1,250) Corpus Christi, TX |
| Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Houston Baptist | W 110–75 | 17–12 (10–6) | Montagne Center (2,863) Beaumont, TX |
| Mar 2, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Stephen F. Austin | W 81–79 | 18–12 (11–6) | Montagne Center (3,551) Beaumont, TX |
| Mar 9, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | | McNeese State | W 83–58 | 19–12 (12–6) | Montagne Center (5,218) Beaumont, TX |
| Southland tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (8) Houston Baptist First round | W 81–79 | 20–12 | Leonard E. Merrell Center Katy, TX |
| Mar 14, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) New Orleans Second round | L 72–76 | 20–13 | Leonard E. Merrell Center Katy, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors
### Player of the week

* Dec. 27 – Nick Garth
* Feb. 4 – Christian Barrett
* Feb. 18 – Nick Garth
* Mar. 4 – Nick Garth

### SLC All-Conference Team

Source:
* First team - Nick Garth
* Second team - Josh Nzeakor

### SLC tournament team

Josh Nzeakor was named to the SLC Tournament team.