Bench blitz leads Privateers over Cardinals 81-55 in dominating fashion

NEW ORLEANS, La. – New Orleans men’s basketball 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 a 40-5 advantage in bench points and 36 points in the paint.

COACH’S CORNER: HEAD COACH MARK SLESSINGER

@CoachSless with his thoughts on tonight’s 81-55 win. pic.twitter.com/S9NmRKVjKt

— New Orleans Men’s Basketball (@PrivateersHoops) January 6, 2023

After what seemed like a brief six minutes in the first half where the Cardinals held a lead as big as five points at 12-7, the Privateers settled into attack mode. Henry buried a shot from deep to give New Orleans the lead, 15-14, and the home team never looked back. UNO flirted with a double-digit lead but closed out the first half up 37-29.

The second half mirrored the trend in the first with New Orleans showing that there was more gas left in the tank. Their 26 point win over the Cardinals marked UNO’s biggest winning margin of the season to date. The Privateers also had a season-high 18 assists and shot 82% at 19-of-23 from the charity stripe.

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 eight rebounds.

Jamond “Turk” Vincent had his best game yet with a career-high 16 points with six rebounds. Tyson Jackson had 11 points and crashed the boards with 10 to mark his third career double-double. K’mani 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 10 contributed points to tonight’s victory.

UP NEXT
New Orleans has a chance to avenge its road loss against the HCU Huskies when they meet this Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Fans are encouraged to follow @PrivateersHoops on Twitter, @PrivateersHoops on Instagram, like /PrivateersMBB on Facebook and subscribe to the PrivateerAthletics YouTube channel.