(Dover, Del.) -- Saturday afternoon, the Delaware State men's basketball team (0-4) suffered a 77-66 loss at home to the visiting Lamar Cardinals (2-1), dropping its fourth in a row to begin the 2015-16 season.

In the first half, the Hornets were outscored 41-23, headlined by Lamar limiting to Delaware State to just 25 percent (6-of-24) shooting. For the Cards, they managed to shoot a staggering 58 percent (15-of-26) from the field, including draining five 3-pointers.  Off the bench, guard Nick Garth led the way offensively with 10 points (2-of-5) off the bench, spearheaded by a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the charity stripe.

“Well, I just think we came out real sluggish,” said head coach Keith Walker.  “But, you know, I thought all the effort was good, especially when we fought our way back into the game. But when we started off the game, it was terrible.  Probably the worst first half performance we had all year.”

DSU in the second stanza, meanwhile, managed to outscore the Cardinals (43-36) thanks to freshmen DeVaughn Mallory (4-of-6) and Devin Morgan (4-of-9) both tallying nine points.  The Hornets managed to cut the deficit to as low as six twice, with the first coming thanks to a Kavon Waller jumper at the 5:25 mark, whereas the second came with just under two minutes to play by way of a Morgan layup.

Nevertheless, Lamar answered each time, as it finished the game shooting 45 percent (23-of-51).  Three players the Cards went on to finish the game scoring in double figures, led by guard Lincoln Davis (5-of-10) and Garth (4-of-9) finishing with 18 points. 

For DSU, Mallory (5-of-9) and fellow freshman forward Joseph Lewis (4-of-7) finished with a team-high 13 points.  Lewis managed to pull down a game-high 10 boards for his first career double-double. 

Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will tipoff a season-high nine-game road trip, beginning with UC-Riverside next Tuesday (10 p.m.).  

“When we go on this road trip, we just got to get better at what we do,” said Walker of his team's upcoming road swing.  “And that's what we are going to be working on.”