University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

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11/27/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

CAJUNS TAKE HOME OPENER OVER EAST CAROLINA ... Nov. 27, 1999

LAFAYETTE -- Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun men's basketball team rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to take a 70-64 win over East Carolina in its home opener at the Cajundome on Saturday. Orlando Butler led four Cajuns in double figures with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Reggie DeGray added 13 points, while Lonnie Thomas posted the first double-double of the season for UL Lafayette with 12 points and 12 boards. Blane Harmon also added 10 in the winning effort. Despite Thomas' effort on the glass, though, UL Lafayette was outrebounded by the Pirates 43-32. Nine ECU players posted at least two rebounds in the game, led by Neil Punt's nine offensive rebounds, including five on the offensive side. UL Lafayette (1-1) led by as many as 11 points on Brett Smith's 12-foot jumper at the five-minute mark of the first half, but the Pirates closed out the period with a 13-0 run and took their first lead of the game on Kenyatta Brown's baseline three-pointer with 1:20 left in the half. The Pirates hit 48 percent of their first half-shots, while the Cajuns struggled to only a 34.5 shooting percentage. However, it was a complete opposite in the second half. While the Cajuns came out of the locker room hitting nearly 48 percent of their final period shots, ECU hit on only 11-of-31 shots from the field in the last 20 minutes. The Cajuns took the lead for the first time in the second half on Shea Whiting's inside bucket at the 15:17 mark and never trailed again in the contest. ECU cut that lead to one on two free throws by Quincy Hall five minutes later but UL Lafayette rallied to push the lead back to six points. In the final 69 seconds, the Cajuns hit all six of their free throws to ice the victory. ECU's Garrett Blackwelder tied with Butler for game-high honors with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Brown also added 13 points for ECU, which dropped to 1-2 with the loss.

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