Game Three for the Rebels

Lamar comes to town tomorrow night for game three of the year for the basketball team. It should be the biggest crowd of the season this year for the Rebels as many Rebel fans should be in attendance for the LSU game the following day. The Rebels have had back to back games where someone has scored seven 3 pointers one shy of the school record of eight baskets.

Lamar is evidently a high scoring team as they scored 103 in their last game. So it should be interesting to see how this game turns out. There are multiple connections to the Ole Miss and North Mississippi area with the Lamar team, so they will be prepared to play this game.

I really hope there is a good crowd for this game.

Here are the game notes from UMAA:

OLE MISS FACES LAMAR CARDINALS Ole Miss plays the third of six straight home non-conference games to start the season when the Rebels (2-0) host the Lamar Cardinals (1-0) on Friday night. Ole Miss held on for an 81-78 victory over South Alabama on Tuesday behind sophomore guard Eniel Polynice’s career night. The Sarasota, Fla., native scored 28 points and had seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block. The Rebels have won 18 of their last 19 games at home under head coach Andy Kennedy. Ole Miss will put a current 10-game home winning streak on the line Friday.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS Lamar opened its season on Tuesday with a 103-64 thrashing of LeTourneau University. The Cardinals, who compiled a 15-17 record last season, had six players in double figures on Tuesday, led by a pair of former Northwest Mississippi Community College players. Senior guard Currye Todd paced the Cardinals with 17, while junior forward Justin Nabors notched a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The top returning scorer from last year’s squad is Darren Hopkins, who put in 13.4 point per game a year ago, while Lamar Sanders scored 12.2 per game and brought down 9.8 boards per contest. Head coach Steve Roccaforte is in his second year at the helm after serving as an assistant for three years under former coach and current athletic director Billy Tubbs.

OLE MISS-LAMAR SERIES The all-time series betwen the Rebels and Cardinals is tied 1-1, with each team having won on its home court. Ole Miss earned a 98-70 victory in Oxford in the first meeting on Dec. 4, 1993. Lamar won 86-81 on Dec. 9, 1995 in Beaumont (Texas).

MISSISSIPPI CARDINALS Despite the fact that Lamar University is situated in Beaumont, Texas, one might look at the 2007-08 Cardinal roster and think it could be in north Mississippi. The Cardinals have four players who hail from the Magnolia State, including three graduates of Northwest Mississippi CC in Senatobia. Kenny Dawkins and Justin Nabors are from Holly Springs, Currye Todd hails from Byhalia and Lamar Sanders calls Hickory Flat home. Nabors, Todd and Sanders, three of the Cardinals’ top players, all played for assistant coach Don Skelton, who served eight years as head coach of the Northwest Rangers.