CAJUNS XXX?Dec
12/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CAJUNS NOTCH CONSOLATION WIN OVER CANISIUS
Dec. 29, 2001
?TEMPE, Ariz. – It is not often that a team wins a basketball team committing 24 turnovers. Somehow, though, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun basketball team found a way Saturday.
?The Cajuns fought through a mistake-prone first half by dominating the boards and making some clutch free throws late during a 73-70 victory over Canisius in consolation action of the azcentral.com Hoops Classic.
?Louisiana-Lafayette junior forward
Anthony Johnson went off with 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds to help the Cajuns (6-5) earn a split in the two-day event. On Friday, the Cajuns lost a 52-51 decision to Big Ten member Northwestern.
?Johnson led a quartet of Cajuns in double figures. Sophomore guard
Laurie Bridges scored 14 points –including two crucial free throws in the final seconds – while
Shea Whiting added 13 points and
Darryl Robins 10. Hodari Mallory led the Golden Griffins (1-7) with a career-high 21 points.
?Helping the Cajuns overcome the season-high 24 miscues was a 54-31 advantage on the boards. Louisiana-Lafayette had 18 offensive grabs and also had a season-high nine blocks.
?"We did get it done on the defensive end and we did a really good job on the glass," said Cajun head coach Jessie Evans. "In the second half, we took better care of the ball, showed some patience on offense and made a few plays at the end."
?In the first half, some hot shooting helped Canisius jump out to a 20-8 lead. The Griffins started out by hitting five of their first eight 3-pointers. The Cajuns also helped their opponents' cause by committing eight turnovers in the first seven minutes.
Louisiana-Lafayette, though, did go on a 14-2 run starting at the 10:44 mark to tie the contest. However, 18 turnovers sent the Cajuns down 35-34 at the break.
"In the beginning, we were too passive. We definitely had too many turnovers, and we played in spurts in the first half. Considering all the turnovers, I felt pretty good about going into halftime just down a point."
In the second half, neither team had a lead bigger than six. The Cajuns tried to hammer it inside with freshman center Michael Southall. The freshman helped put Canisius in serious foul trouble, but the West Salem, Wis., product got himself in trouble as well.
?Southall actually fouled out with 3:22 left. While the Cajuns have struggled in the past with the rookie fighting fouls, it didn't happen this time.
?Despite not making a field goal in the final 3:42 of the game, Louisiana-Lafayette went 6-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch.
Kenneth Lawrence made a free throw with 21 seconds left to give the Cajuns a 71-70 advantage.
The junior then played some solid defense and forced Canisius guard Brian Dux to turn it over. Bridges was credited with a steal, was fouled and hit the two big free throws to give the Cajuns a 73-70 advantage with six seconds remaining. Canisius had one more chance to tie, but Dewitt Doss' last-second trey bounced off the rim.
"We got out of this exactly what we wanted," Evans said. "Obviously we wanted to win the thing, but we played some good competition and got out of here with a split while almost beating a Big Ten team. This tournament will definitely get us ready for Sun Belt Conference play."
Louisiana-Lafayette will begin conference action Thursday, hosting South Alabama in a 7:05 p.m. tilt at the Cajundome.
Louisiana-Lafayette 73, Canisius 70
??LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (6-5) – Robins 2-8 6-8 10, Johnson 6-12 8-8 20, Southall 3-5 0-0 6, Lawrence 1-2 1-2 3, Whiting 5-9 1-2 13, Boyd 2-8 2-4 7, Landry 0-1 0-0 0, Bridges 5-7 4-8 14, Jupiter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 22-32 73.
??CANISIUS (1-7) – Mallory 6-12 5-6 21, Foster 3-6 0-0 9, Bush 1-10 2-2 4, Doss 1-12 2-2 4, Dux 6-11 1-2 14, Hampton 3-7 5-6 11, Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Ravello 0-1 2-2 2, Ferris 2-8 0-0 5. Totals 22-69 17-20 70.
??Halftime – Canisius 35, Louisiana-Lafayette 34. 3-point field goals – Louisiana-Lafayette 3-11 (Johnson 0-2, Whiting 2-2, Boyd 1-6, Landry 0-1), Canisius 9-21 (Mallory 4-8, Foster 3-4, Doss 0-4, Dux 1-1, Jones 0-2, Ferris 1-2). Fouled out – Southall, Mallory, Bush. Rebounds – Louisiana-Lafayette 54 (Johnson 18), Canisius 31 (Mallory 7). Assists – Louisiana-Lafayette 13 (Johnson 4), Canisius 13 (Dux 4). Total fouls – Louisiana-Lafayette 17, Canisius 24. A—N/A
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