Box Score NEW ORLEANS, La. – New Orleans men's basketball program put on a show to dominate Lamar 81-55 in its home conference opener Thursday night at Lakefront Arena. Led by the freshman, Omar Henry with a career high 20 points featuring three big dunks, the Privateers showed the power of their depth with 40-5 in bench points and 36 points in the paint.
COACH's CORNER: HEAD COACH MARK SLESSINGER
After what seemed like a brief six minutes in the first half of the Cardinals holding on to a lead, with the largest being 12-7, the Privateers settled into attack mode. Henry banked a shot from deep to give New Orleans the lead 15-14 and the home team never looked back. They flirted with a ten-point lead over Lamar to close out the first half 37-29.
The second half mirrored the first with New Orleans showing that there was more gas left in the tank. Their 26-points over the Cardinals marked the most the home team has scored over an opponent this season. The Privateers also had a season high 18 assists and shot 82% at 19 of 23 from the charity stripe.
New Orleans did a great job of driving to the basket and drawing fouls early at 6 of 10 to 0 of 2 in the first half. Henry's versatility and ability to drive in the paint or step-back for a mid-range jumper was on full display as he went 8 of 10 from the field while adding 8 rebounds to that effort. Jamond "Turk" Vincent had his best game yet with a career-high 16 points and 6 rebounds to shut out the Cardinals.
Tyson Jackson had 11 points and crashed the boards with 10 to mark his third career double-double. Doughty was also a blitz off the bench putting up 11 points with a perfect 3 of 3 from the arc.
Thirteen Privateers played in tonight's matchup, while ten contributed to tonight's victory.
UP NEXT
New Orleans has a chance to avenge its road loss against the HCU Huskies Saturday, January 7, but this time on Privateer soil. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
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