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2/26/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CAJUNS TAKE PIECE OF SBC TITLE WITH WIN AT UNO ... Feb. 24,2000
NEW ORLEANS -- It wasn't exactly what they wanted, but in the end
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns earned a piece of the Sun Belt Conference regular season
championship with a 93-77 victory over New Orleans at Lakefront Arena on Saturday.
The Cajuns tied for the title with South Alabama which was a 58-56
winner over Louisiana Tech on Saturday. UL Lafayette now enters the Sun Belt Conference
Tournament at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Ark., on March 4 as the No. 2 seed. The
Cajuns open the tournament at 4 p.m. March 4 and take on the winner of the New
Orleans-Denver game which will be played on Saturday.
Orlando Butler led the way for the Cajuns, scoring 24 points and
hitting 6-of-10 three-point attempts. That was the team-leading sixth time the Houma
native scored at least 20 points in a game.
Blane Harmon also poured in 23 points with four 3-pointers of his own.
But it wasn't just Butler who was connecting from downtown for the
Cajuns. UL Lafayette (22-8, 13-3) connected on 13-of-25 three-point shots as a team, the
highest total by the Cajuns this season and only two off the school record. In addition to
Butler and Harmon, Jarret Evans and Billy Jones -- who scored 16 points -- drained at
least one trey in the game to help lead the Cajuns to their highest scoring output in a
league game.
And the Cajuns' hot shooting wasn't just limited behind the three-point
line. UL Lafayette hit on 58.3 percent of its total field goal attempts and shot a
blistering 64 percent in the second half alone.
With the win, the Cajuns tied for the sixth-most wins in school
single-season history. UL Lafayette's nine road wins this year is also the highest such
total since the 1976-77 team won nine times on unfriendly courts.
UL Lafayette used a pair of runs early and late in the first half to
take a big lead and then take control of th egame. UNO (10-17, 6-10) took a 15-10 lead at
the 11:30 mark on Desmond Baxter's three-pointer.
But over the next 2:43, the Cajuns outscored the Privateers 15-3 to
take a 25-18 lead. Butler highlighted the rally, hitting
three of his six first-half three-pointers and scoring 11 of the Cajuns' points.
Late in the first half, UNO cut into the Cajun lead when Baxter's
second three-pointer of the first half made it 35-30 with 4:19 remaining. However, the
Cajun outscored UNO 13-3 over the rest of the period to take a commanding 48-33 lead into
the locker room at the break.
Baxter led UNO with 16 points with Tory Walker scoring 15 points and
Clyde Ellis adding 13 points. Walker also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
The win gives UL Lafayette its first championship of any kind since the
1993-94 team claimed the SBC Tournament title. It also marks the first SBC regular season
championship since 1991-92 and the first championship under head coach Jessie Evans.
UL Lafayette - Thomas 2-5 1-1 5, DeGray 0-4 0-2 0, Smith 1-2 1-2 3,
Jones 7-8 0-0 16, Harmon 7-8 5-8 3, Evans 1-5 0-0 3, Lawrence 1-2 0-0 2, Butler 9-15 0-0
24, Robins 2-3 0-0 4, Whiting 2-3 0-1 4, Warren 1-1 1-2 3, Williams 1-1 1-1 3, Regis 1-3
1-3 3. Totals 35-60 10-20 93.
UNO -- Ellis 4-9 5-10 5-10, Walker 6-15 0-0 15, Sanders 2-6 1-3 5,
Blackmon 1-5 0-0 3, Baxter 5-8 4-5 16, Adams 2-3 1-1 5, Morin 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey 5-10 3-4
16. Totals 26-58 16-25 77.
Halftime -- UL Lafayette 48, UNO 33. Three-point goals -- UL Lafayette
(Butler 6-10, Harmon 4-5, Jones 2-2, Evans 1-4, DeGray 0-3, Whiting 0-1), UNO 9-20 (Walker
3-7, Bailey 3-5, Baxter 2-3, Blackmon 1-3, Adams 0-1, Meliet 0-1). Fouled out -- none.
Rebounds -- UL Lafayette 37 (Smith, Regis, Butler 5), UNO 30 (Walker 7). Assists -- UL
Lafayette 23 (Lawrence 8), UNO (Baxter 6). Technicals -- none. Total fouls - UL Lafayette
20, UNO 19. Attendance -- 1,803.
