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University of Houston
Lamar
Houston beats Lamar, 68-62
12/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2003
Houston, Texas - Andre Owens scored 20 points and Anwar Ferguson recorded the first double-double of his career as the University of Houston defeated Lamar, 68-62, in front of 3,059 fans at Hofheinz Pavilion Saturday night.
"The key tonight was our intensity at the start of the game," Houston head coach Ray McCallum said. "We set the tone defensively and Lamar knew we came to play. We also handled their pressure and reach our goal of 10 turnovers or less."
The Cougars opened the game with a 19-4 lead in the first nine minutes and held Lamar without a field goal in the first seven minutes.
On the offensive end, Houston began the game with three slam dunks by Ferguson, Andrew Francis and Cedrick Hensley. The Cougars extended their lead to 24-9 with 8:11 left in the first half before Lamar closed to within 32-27 at halftime.
In the second half, Lamar closed to within 50-49 with 7:03 left to play.
"I told our guys that they had made their run and it was time for us to make ours," Owens said. "We just had to get a couple of defensive stops."
Lanny Smith scored three points as he made a lay-up and hit two of his three free throws to extend Houston's lead to 54-49. On Houston's next possession, Francis made a three-point play with a lay-up and free throw to give the Cougars a 57-49 lead with 5:09 left to play.
The Cardinals had one last chance to get into the game when they had the ball and trailed 65-62 with 21 seconds remaining. But, Gil Goodrich missed a lay-up and Houston went on to win 68-62.
In addition to Andre Owens' 20 points, Ferguson added his career highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Francis added 13 points and eight rebounds. Marcus Oliver scored 10 points off the bench, as Houston won its first game of the year and improved their record to 1-2.
Raymond Anthony led Lamar with a game-high 22 points and Goodrich scored 10 points for the Cardinals, who drop to 4-1 this season.
The Cougars travel to UTEP Monday night before taking eight days off for final exams.
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