Men's Basketball tipped off their tough pre-season against Division I Lamar this Wednesday night. After two hard fought halves and an overtime period, the Celts were edged by one point against the Cardinals 71-70.

In the first half, the Celts started fast jumping out to a large 16 point lead, until Lamar started to score. However, statistically, the Celts showcased their skill going 48% from the floor and a perfect 100% at the line to capitalize on the opportunities. 14 points from Nick Anderson also fueled this. Then midway through the first half, Lamar started to make basket after basket to jump back in the game. Yet the St. Thomas lead was too large to come back from as the halftime score read 36-35 when the dust settled.

In the second half, Lamar used their bench and poor celt shooting to jump back into the game. St. Thomas only shot 21% from the floor, while Lamar made nearly half their shots. They also used the paint and scored 14 points. However St. Thomas would not go away, so when the second half ended, the score was tied 63-63 with overtime in sight.

In overtime, Lamar and St. Thomas went back and forth however the Celts were edged by 1 point to take a 71-70 exhibition loss against a Divison I opponent.

Up next, St. Thomas continues preseason against Rice University on November 8th! Come out to Rice University and support the Celts!