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CAJUNS STORM INTO SBC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ... March 6, 2000 LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns stormed into the championship game of the 2000 TCBY Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 73-58 victory over Louisiana Tech at Alltel Arena on Monday. With the win, the Cajuns (24-8) take the rubber match of the series with the Bulldogs and also tie for the third-most victories in school history. UL Lafayette took an 84-72 win over the Bulldogs at the Cajundome on Jan. 15, before Tech rallied with an 80-75 win in Ruston on Feb. 21. For the second straight night, the Cajuns were deadly from the three-point line, hitting eight treys in the contest. With only five more three-pointers in the championship game on Tueday, the Cajuns will tie their own SBC Tournament record of 24 set during the 1998 postseason event. UL Lafayette jumped ahead 14-4 in the game's first five minutes and never trailed in the contest, thanks to a superior defensive effort. The Cajuns held Tech to only 38 percent shooting from the floor and gave up only 11 second-half points to Tech's Gerrod Henderson, the 2000 SBC Player of the Year, who did not score his first points until nine minutes remaining in the game. ""We did a fine job defensively,'' head coach Jessie Evans said. ""We did't allow a lot of second shots, and then we were patient offensively. I thought our perimeter guys did a fine job on their perimeter guys.'' In the second half, UL Lafayette continued to push its lead and took advantage of a 10-1 run for a 49-29 lead with 15 minutes left. But that's when Tech rallied with a run of its own. The Bulldogs (21-8) took off on a 17-5 run over the next 9:37 to pull to within 54-46 with 5:11 left. During that run, Tech limited the Cajuns to only one field goal in a nine-minute span. That would be as close as Tech would get for the rest of the night, though. UL Lafayette responded with three consecutive baskets by Lonnie Thomas to push the lead back comfortably into double digits and then hit 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:41 to ice the win. Thomas posted his team-leading seventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 15 rebounds, including 10 boards in the game's first 20 minutes. Orlando Butler and Blane Harmon each led the way for the Cajuns with 21 points apiece and hit for a combined 8-of-18 from behind the three-point line. Antonio Meeking led Tech with 12 points and seven rebounds, with Henderson and Marco Cole each adding 11 points.

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