With their star point junior guard Kevin Cottonham missing his second straight game with an injury, the Louisiana College Wildcats, who started off the season 3-5, grabbed a share of the American Southwest Conference lead with a 91-68 win over the Ozarks Eagles on Thursday night in Clarksville, Arkansas.  

Junior forward Anthony Gaines, Jr. poured in a game-high 27 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds while fellow junior forward Kevin Lewis had 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists to pace the Wildcats against the Eagles.

LC ended their hot first half with an emphatic dunk from Steve Evans with under a minute left to push the Wildcats to a 43-23 lead at the half.

The Wildcats would continue to dominate in the second half, as the Ozarks never got within less than 20 points of LC the rest of the way, as LC cruised to the 91-68 conference road win.

Gene Rushing's squad was solid all-around against the Eagles, making 50% (36-72) of their shots from the field, outrebounding Ozarks 50-38, and turning the ball over just 10 times on the night.

While Gaines, Jr. and Lewis were the Wildcats' top performers, LC also got double digit outings from Steve Evans (14 points, four rebounds), Raheem Regis(10 points), and Darian Harleaux (11 points).

With East Texas Baptist (19-5, 14-5) 81-77 loss to Howard Payne on Thursday night, the Wildcats (14-8, 14-5) are now deadlocked in a four-way tie for first place in the ASC standings with ETBU, Hardin-Simmons (18-6, 14-5), and Mary Hardin-Baylor (17-7, 14-5).

With a spot in the 2015 ASC Championship Tournament clinched, the Wildcats will have a chance to claim at least a share of the regular season conference title on Saturday when they travel to Tyler, Texas to take on Texas-Tyler.