Louisiana-Lafayette vs South Alabama

MEN'S BASKETBALL TAKES ROAD WIN OVER SOUTH ALABAMA ... Dec. 23, 2000

MOBILE, Ala. – Depending on how good he has been this year, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun men's basketball head coach Jessie Evans should enjoy many Christmas presents this season.

However, no gift under his family's tree will be sweeter than the one his Cajun squad handed him Saturday night.

Louisiana-Lafayette blistered the nets for 50 percent from the field while holding South Alabama to a season-low 28 percent by a Cajun opponent in a 67-55 victory over the Jaguars at the Mitchell Center to open its Sun Belt Conference season.

With the win, the Cajuns (4-3, 1-0 SBC) snap USA's 16-game winning streak at the Mitchell Center and win their conference opener for the sixth straight season. The win also snaps the Jaguar's 14-game winning streak over Sun Belt opponents.

Blane Harmon led the Cajuns with 12 points and was a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the three-point arc. Lonnie Thomas added 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds in the winning effort.

The Cajuns never trailed in the contest and took a 30-26 lead into the locker room at the halftime break, thanks to a 40 percent shooting effort from the field and a solid defensive effort which limited the Jaguars to only seven field goals in 30 attempts.

Early in the second half, the Cajuns jumped out to a 37-29 lead before USA stormed back to pull within two at 37-35 on Emmett Thomas' field goal at the 11:20 mark, prompting a timeout from Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Jessie Evans.

Whatever the fourth-year Cajun coach said during the 30-second break seemed to ignite his squad. Louisiana-Lafayette broke out of the huddle to go on a 12-3 run over the next 5:11 for a 49-38 advantage, and the Cajuns would never lead by less than six points the rest of the way.

Harmon and Anthony Johnson provided the big offensive blows with a three-pointer apiece during the rally.

After a hot shooting first half, the Cajuns exploded in the final 20 minutes, hitting 12-of-19 shots for 63.2 percent. And while USA (8-4, 0-1 SBC) shot the ball better in the second half, the Jaguars still only tickled the twine at a 32.3 percentage.

Virgil Stanescu led the Jaguars with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Brett Gravitt added 12 points with three 3-pointers. Emmett Thomas also tallied 10 points for USA.

Louisiana-Lafayette will now take a couple of days off to enjoy the Christmas break, but the rest will be short-lived. The Cajuns leave on Tuesday to travel to Tucson, Ariz., where they will compete in the Fiesta Bowl Classic, hosted by eighth-ranked Arizona. The Cajuns tip-off that event at 5:15 p.m. Thursday against Mississippi State.

Louisiana-Lafayette vs South Alabama OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S Louisiana-Lafayette vs South Alabama 12/23/00 7:05 p.m. at MITCHELL CENTER -- Mobile, Ala. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Louisiana-Lafayette 4-3 (1-0 SBC) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 1 EVANS, Jarret 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 4 5 LAWRENCE, Kenneth 3-8 2-5 1-3 0 1 1 2 9 2 1 0 1 24 13 JONES, Billy 1-2 0-0 4-4 0 2 2 1 6 2 3 0 0 18 22 HARMON, Blane 3-6 3-3 3-6 0 1 1 3 12 2 2 0 0 27 23 BUTLER, Orlando 2-6 0-4 5-6 2 4 6 2 9 1 2 1 1 27 30 THOMAS, Lonnie 4-6 0-0 2-3 1 7 8 4 10 1 2 1 0 28 32 ROBINS, Darryl 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 0 1 0 0 14 34 JOHNSON, Anthony 2-5 2-4 0-0 0 6 6 2 6 1 3 2 1 17 42 SMITH, Brett 4-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 4 8 0 0 0 1 15 52 DeGRAY, Reggie 3-4 0-1 1-2 1 1 2 2 7 2 3 0 1 25 55 DAVIS, Robert 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 TEAM ........................................ 0 2 2 TOTALS 22-44 7-17 16-26 4 28 32 24 67 12 18 4 5 200 TOT-FG 1stH: 10-25 40.0% 2ndH: 12-19 63.2% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 50.0% Deadbl 3pt-FG 1stH: 3-9 33.3% 2ndH: 4-8 50.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 41.2% Rebs FThrow 1stH: 7-11 63.6% 2ndH: 9-15 60.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 61.5% 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: South Alabama 8-4 (0-1 SBC) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 WILLIAMS, Demetrice 1-4 0-1 4-4 0 4 4 2 6 7 2 0 0 37 14 BECK, Ericson 0-3 0-0 2-2 2 1 3 2 2 2 1 0 2 26 22 DANTZLER, Ravonte 2-14 1-7 2-3 6 3 9 3 7 3 2 0 1 32 32 THOMAS, Emmett 4-10 1-5 1-2 1 6 7 3 10 0 3 0 1 25 33 GRAVITT, Nick 3-10 3-5 3-4 2 3 5 1 12 0 0 0 1 23 34 BOLLMAN, Michael 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 8 42 FORGET, Matt 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 43 WILLIAMS, Henry 3-4 0-0 2-5 4 4 8 5 8 0 5 0 2 18 55 STANESCU, Virgil 4-15 0-0 2-4 7 3 10 5 10 1 3 0 0 29 TEAM ........................................ 0 0 0 1 TOTALS 17-61 5-18 16-24 22 24 46 23 55 13 18 0 8 200 TOT-FG 1stH: 7-30 23.3% 2ndH: 10-31 32.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 27.9% Deadbl 3pt-FG 1stH: 1-6 16.7% 2ndH: 4-12 33.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 27.8% Rebs FThrow 1stH: 11-15 73.3% 2ndH: 5-9 55.6% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 66.7% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICIALS: Gene Menees, Larry Ware, Steven Pyatt TECHNICAL FOULS: Louisiana-Lafayette - none South Alabama - none ATTENDANCE: 2530 SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL Louisiana-Lafayette 30 37 67 South Alabama 26 29 55 Loss snaps USA 16-game homecourt winning streak

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

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