University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Birmingham-Southern
BSC Holds On To Hand Cajuns Surprising Defeat
12/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sunday, Dec. 8, 2002
The loss was the second straight for the Cajuns (1-2) after a 79-76 win over then-No. 12 Mississippi State Nov. 23 to open the season. For the Panthers (4-2), they won their fourth straight game overall since a 0-2 start and 14th in their last 15 games at Battle Coliseum. It was also the Cajuns first game in 11 days, having not played since Nov. 27 at McNeese State as the university administered final exams.
UL Lafayette, trailing the entire second half, made a push in the game's final nine minutes. The Cajuns used an 11-2 run to turn a 71-65 deficit with 9:14 to play into a 76-73 lead with 5:14 left to play.
BSC responded shortly with a 10-1 run that pulled the Panthers out in front at 83-77 with 2:45 left to play. The Cajuns made their final run of the game over the next minute, forcing two Panther turnovers and responding on the other end with baskets from Laurie Bridges and Cedric Williams and cut the BSC lead to 83-81 with 1:02 remaining.
Free throws from BSC down the stretch sealed the deal. After a Grant Davis jumper gave the Panthers an 85-81 lead, the Panthers scored their final seven points from the free throw line.
The Cajuns lost the game despite shooting 56.7 percent from the field (34-of-60) and having nine more assists than turnovers.
The difference in the game was at the free throw line. BSC connected on 24-of-30 freebies (80 percent) while UL Lafayette struggled at the line, 8-for-18 (44.4 percent), after entering the game hitting 78 percent of their charity opportunities.
Brad Boyd led the Cajuns in scoring for the third straight outing, scoring 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the floor. Freshman Chris Cameron poured in a career-high 22 points and senior point guard Kenneth Lawrence added 10 as the Cajuns put three starters in double-figures.
BSC had four starters score in double-figures led by Derrick Williams' 22 points. The Panthers took advantage of rebounds, outrebounding the Cajuns 38-25 and pulling down 20 offensive boards.
The first half featured an up-tempo, back-and-forth rhythm. The lead changed 15 times and the score was tied six different times and both teams combined for 98 points in a first half that was obviously void of defense on either side of the ball.
Looking at the first few minutes of the contest and it appeared a defensive struggle was going to be on hand. BSC recorded the first points of the contest on the second of a two-shot free throw situation at 18:21. Three offensive boards on the Panthers, and the game's, first possession set up free throw.
The Cajuns quickly responded with their first two points of the contest on a Anthony Johnson slam dunk at 18:02. UL Lafayette took its largest lead of the first half, at the time, with 12:54 remaining in the opening frame on a Robert Jupiter three-pointer to take an 18-13 lead.
The lead fluctuated between the two teams over the remainder of the half.
UL Lafayette regained a five-point advantage, 25-20, after the Panthers had trimmed their previous five-point lead to one at 18-17. BSC responded with back-to-back threes from Williams and Jakob Sigurdarson, with the latter coming at 8:00, to give the Panthers a brief 26-25 lead.
The margin remained between one and three points over the next four-plus minutes before Louisiana-Lafayette made a run to pull out in front 44-38 with 3:06 left in the half. Two jumpers and a trey from Cameron, who had a career-high 16 points at the break, sparked a 9-2 run.
BSC battled back with a 9-0 run to take a 47-44 lead
with 1:33 left in the half. Offensive rebounds were the
catalyst for the Panthers run. BSC finished the first
frame with 10 offensive rebounds.
The two teams played to a 49-49 tie at the break after a James Collins jumper with 10 seconds remaining in the half.
Both squads set the nets afire in the first half. At the break, the Cajuns were shooting 63.3 percent (19-of-30) while BSC was firing at a 53.1 clip (17-of-32) from the field. UL Lafayette was shooting 63.6 percent from beyond the arc (7-of-11) while the Panthers were at 52.9 percent (9-of-17).
UP NEXT: Louisiana-Lafayette will open the home portion of the 2002-03 regular season slate with a 7:05 p.m. game Wednesday, Dec. 11, against in-state foe Louisiana College. The game is the first of a three-game homestand which runs through the following Wednesday (Dec. 18). It is also the second half of a twinbill with the Ragin' Cajuns women's basketball team, who hosts Southeastern Louisiana at 4:30 p.m.
For ticket information call the Cajundome Ticket Office at (337) 265-2100.
FOR A GOOD CAUSE: As part of their efforts to support the Coaches vs. Cancer program, Birmingham-Southern College donated all gate proceeds from Sunday's game to the American Cancer Society.
-Ragin' Cajuns
