|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Cajuns Defense Turns Around Exhibition Game With Spring Hill Click Here to View Box ScoreLAFAYETTE - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team trailed by three points at halftime of Monday’s exhibition game with Spring Hill College here at the Cajundome and turned to its defense to rally and claim a 65-51 victory. The Ragin’ Cajuns held the visitors scoreless for the first three-plus minutes of the second stanza buying time for the offense to regain the lead. The Cajuns trailed 31-28 at intermission and it was a pair of defensive stops in the 18-minute mark which helped turn the tide. David Dees forced a steal near midcourt and raced in for a layup. He was fouled, made the basket and converted the free throw to tie the game at 31-31 with 18:54 remaining. After a defensive stop the next time that SHC touched the ball, Ross Mouton hit a jumper on the right wing at 18:04 that put the Cajuns up 33-31. The Badgers reclaimed the lead with four unanswered points before the Cajuns final defensive stand. UL would hold SHC to only one free throw made between the 15:32 mark and 11:40 mark. After Owen McNally gave the Badgers a 35-33 lead at 15:32, Mouton made a three-point basket on the Cajuns’ next two possessions that vaulted the hosts into a 39-35 lead with 14:40 remaining. UL wouldn’t surrender the lead the rest of the game. SHC would close the deficit to four points, 43-39, when Noah Woolridge hit a three-pointer with 11:40 remaining. The Ragin’ Cajuns responded with six unanswered points to build a comfortable margin which lasted the rest of the game. Mouton put up a three-point attempt that was partially blocked by a SHC defender out-of-bounds allowing UL to retain possession at 11:11. Wille Lago worked the ball inside to Valentino Hart who made the basket and drew a foul. Hart made the free throw to push the Cajuns lead to 46-39. Hart would come up with the defensive board on the ensuing possession and the Cajuns swung the ball around to Mouton in the right corner for a three-pointer which increased the lead to 49-39. Mouton led the Ragin’ Cajuns with a game-high 22 points making 8-of-14 field goals including 4-of-8 from three-point range. The senior guard scored 15 of his points in the second stanza. Dees joined Mouton in double figures with 14 points. He paced the Cajuns’ defensive efforts with three steals and a team-best seven rebounds. The UL defense clamped down in the second half and held the Badgers to 25 percent shooting (5-of-20). The offense warmed up in the second stanza, hitting eight of their first 12 shot attempts through the first 12 minutes. Rhett Hebert scored the game’s first basket after the Cajuns pushed the ball up the floor following Spring Hill’s first shot attempt. Hebert nailed a three-pointer that put the hosts up 3-0 at 19:14. The visitors got on the board on the ensuing possession when Courtney Wallace fouled Woolridge. He made both freebies to trim the UL lead to 3-2 at 18:41. The Cajuns went inside on the next two possessions and were able to draw fouls that set up James and Wallace at the free throw line. They each made one-of-two attempts that increased the Cajuns lead to 5-2 at the 17:50 mark. The two teams traded offensive fouls on the next two trips down the floor. After Spring Hill’s foul on McNally for an illegal screen, Wallace grabbed the loose ball after an Hebert and converted the putback to push the UL lead to 7-2. The Badgers answered on their next possession when Cash Covington connected on a three-pointer at 16:29 that trimmed the Cajuns lead to 7-5. UL would stretch its lead back to five points three minutes later when Mouton made his first triple of the evening giving the home team a 12-7 edge at 13:35. SHC got field goals on its next two possessions scoring four points and trimming the lead to 12-11 at 12:17. The Ragin’ Cajuns were able to extend the lead back to five points by holding the Badgers scoreless until the 8:57 mark. At that time UL held a 16-11 advantage. Louisiana-Lafayette would hold its lead until the five-minute mark before the Badgers scored five unanswered points that helped them gain their first lead of the contest and erase a 22-19 deficit. Ugo Ezekwe made a three-pointer at the 5:11 mark that tied the game at 22-all. After stopping the Cajuns on the other end, SHC took the lead at 4:28 when Jeremy Price hit a leaning jumper that gave the Badgers a 24-22 lead. UL drew even after the media timeout when Hebert made two free throw attempts. The Cajuns defense would force a stop and Mouton scored a layup to put the Cajuns up 26-24 at 3:16. Dees added to the lead at 2:43 when he knocked down a pair of freebies that upped the lead to 28-24. Spring Hill closed the gap to 28-27 on Covington’s second triple of the evening at 1:05. The Badgers would score four points in the final 33 seconds to take a 31-28 lead at intermission.
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
