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Saturday, Mar. 11 1:00pm ET
Lamar earns long-awaited NCAA bid | |||||
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SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) -- It wasn't just a chance for Landon Rowe, it was the last chance. The Lamar senior made the most of it -- scoring 21 points, including eight of Lamar's final 10, as the Cardinals held off Northwestern State 62-55 Saturday to win the Southland Conference title for its first NCAA tournament trip in 13 years. "I've been here four years and I knew this was my last shot to get to the NCAA tournament," said Rowe, who scored 68 points in seventh-seeded Lamar's three tournament victories. "I wasn't about to let this go by without doing everything I could." Lamar (15-15) has a 5-4 record in four NCAA appearances, including first-round wins in each trip. The loss stopped a four-game winning streak for Northwestern (17-13), which had its first winning season in nine years and only the sixth in 24 years of Division I play. Rowe, the tournament MVP, scored 15 points in the second half, and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, including four in the two minutes. Thaydeus Holden scored 15 points for Lamar. "Rowe gave them a big boost," Northwestern coach Mike McConathy said. "All his baskets were timely. He's a big, strong kid and they look to him for good things to happen." Northwestern opened the second half with a 15-8 run, fueled by seven points from Chris Thompson, that cut into Lamar's 14-point halftime lead. Will Burks' basket with 11:25 remaining pulled the Demons to 42-35. Four minutes later, Thompson's layup cut Northwestern's deficit to 48-43. "Their pressure defense bothered us," Lamar coach Mike Deane said. "We managed to make shots with five, 10 seconds left, but they were all hard earned." A pair of free throws by Josh Hancock brought Northwestern to 50-47 with 4:20 remaining. Burks jumper made it 52-51 with 3:08 left. Rowe padded Lamar's lead with a basket and a pair of free throws, then offset Burks two free throws with a long 2-pointer followed by two free throws with 28 seconds left. Thompson led Northwestern with 14 points, Burks had 12 and Hancock added 10. Rowe tied the score at 9 with 14:37 remaining in the first half. Lamar went on a 13-2 run capped by a 3-point basket by Ron Austin at the 8:31 mark that made it 22-11 Cardinals. Northwestern, unable to cope with a matchup zone defense, shot 8-for--27 in the first half and was outrebounded 21-15. Lamar, which had lost six of its last eight games before the tournament, led 34-20 at the break. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO   Thaydeus Holden hits the smooth outside shot.avi: 727 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Landon Rowe pulls up for the fade away jumper.avi: 602 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||