University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
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3/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NCAA TOURNAMENT BOUND!!!! CAJUNS WIN SBC TOURNEY TITLE ... March 7, 2000
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Lonnie Thomas hit a driving four-foot jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining to give Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns a 51-50 victory over South Alabama in the championship game of the TCBY Sun Belt Conference Tournament before an ESPN television audience.
UL Lafayette earned its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1994. Thomas, Blane Harmon and Orlando Butler were named to the Al-Tournament team, while USA's Virgil Stanescu was recognized as the Most Valuable Player.
The Cajuns trailed 50-46 after Dusty Dubbs hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:33 left, but Brett Smith cut the margin to 50-47 when he made one of two free throws with 1:05 left.
UL Lafayette then got a break after the Jaguars turned the ball over on a shot clock violation with 28.5 second remaining.
Harmon cut the margin to 50-49 with a driving layup with only 14.9 seconds left.
Ericson Beck was fouled on the inbounds pass but missed the front end of the one-and-one with 12.6 remaining. Harmon snared the rebound, raced upcourt, paused briefly at the top of the key and dished inside to Thomas, who banked the game-winning shot off the glass.
USA's Ravonte Dantzler's 16-footer was off the mark as time expired, sending the Cajun bench into hysteria.
With the win, the Cajuns earn the final revenge against USA after being swept during the regular season, making USA the only team to do that against UL Lafayette. This Cajun squad also establishes its claim as one of the finest teams in school history, tying the 1970-71 and 1971-72 teams for the most victories.
UL Lafayette struggled from the free throw line throughout the game but was able to overcome that by hitting 45 percent of their shots from the floor and holding USA to only 34 percent. In fact, the Cajuns shot better from the floor than the charity stripe (43.5 percent).
Despite 3-of-11 shooting from the free throw line and three missed layups, UL Lafayette battled back in the first half with a 14-5 run to take a 20-19 lead with 4:25 left. Reggie DeGray sparked the run with eight points, while Billy Jones added a three-pointer.
DeGray led the Cajuns with 11 points -- all in the first half -- on 5-of-7 shooting, while Thomas finished with 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
Stanescu led the Jaguars with game highs of 14 points and 15 rebounds.
