University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Alcorn State
Cajuns Win Second Straight
12/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Monday, Dec. 16, 2002
The win was the second straight overall for Louisiana-Lafayette (3-2) and extended their home win streak, dating back to last season, to 13 games. The Cajuns are now just one win away from tying the school record for the longest win streak at the Cajundome.
Alcorn State (1-7) dropped its fifth straight game overall and was playing its seventh game of the season on the road.
The Cajuns defense forced the Braves into 31 turnovers and limited ASU's leading scorer Lee Cook, who entered the contest averaging 20-plus points per game, to just three points on three field goal attempts.
Michael Southall added 20 points and led the Cajuns with six rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Chris Cameron scored 13 points, Brad Boyd had 12 and Cedric Williams contributed 10 points off the bench as the Cajuns ended the game with five players in double figures
Louisiana-Lafayette shot 38-for-67 from the floor for a 56.7 percentage, marking the third straight game the Cajuns have shot above 50 percent.
The Cajuns converted on 16-of-21 free throw attempts (76.2 percent) while the Braves struggled at the line, making only 11-of-23 freebie opportunities (47.8 percent).
Both teams traded baskets in the early stages of the game. Kenneth Lawrence got the Cajuns on the board first with a putback of a missed Anthony Johnson three-point attempt. The Braves responded with a Dion Callans jumper on the ensuing possession which evened the score 2-2, the first of three ties in the first five minutes of the game
Alcorn State tied the game 8-8 on a dunk by Tori Harris with 15:47 remaining. That would be the last tie of the game and from there on the Cajuns went on 8-0 run as they began to stretch out their lead.
A layup by Johnson, two Michael Southall free throws and a pair of dunks by Johnson
and Southall gave UL Lafayette a 16-8 lead with 13:49 remaining in the first half and prompted a 30-second timeout by ASU head coach Davey Whitney.
The Braves broke the Cajuns run with a Brian Jackson layup at 13:36. The Cajuns responded with a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 23-10, their largest lead at that point in the half.
Louisiana-Lafayette would use another 7-0 run late in the half to push a 38-25 lead up to a 45-25 advantage with 2:32 left in the half. Alcorn State would respond with a 9-1 run at the end of the half to close to 46-34 at halftime.
Johnson led the Cajuns with 10 points at the break. Southall had a team-high five rebounds, four of them on the offensive glass.
UP NEXT: Louisiana-Lafayette will conclude its current three-game homestand with a 7:05 p.m. game Wednesday, Dec. 18 against Bethune-Cookman College. The game will be the last chance to see the Ragin' Cajuns in action at home until Jan. 2, 2003. Following the BC-C contest, the Cajuns will conclude the 2002 portion of their regular season slate with tournaments in Berkeley, Calif. (Dec. 20-21) and Charlotte, N.C. (Dec. 27-29).
HOME STREAK CONTINUES: Louisiana-Lafayette extended its homecourt winning streak to 13 games with Monday night's win over Alcorn State. The streak is only one win shy of the all-time record 14-game win streak at the Cajundome set during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
