CAJUNS FALL LATE TO WESTERN KENTUCKY?March 6, 2002
3/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CAJUNS FALL LATE TO WESTERN KENTUCKY
March 6, 2002
?NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun basketball team saved one of its best efforts for the most opportune time Tuesday night at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship. The only problem was Western Kentucky did as well.
?WKU center Chris Marcus had 24 points -- 19 in the second half -- and the Hilltoppers put five scorers in double figures to take a 76-70 win at the UNO Lakefront Arena. The 7-1 standout tallied 11 rebounds and had six blocked shots to lead the 18th-ranked Hilltoppers (28-3) to their 18th straight win.
?It wasn't easy, though. An inspired Cajun squad got 16 points and 11 rebounds from freshman center
Michael Southall, while guards
Kenneth Lawrence and
Laurie Bridges each added 14. Southall, who battled leg cramps in the second half, had 13 points in the first half to lift the Cajuns to a 36-31 halftime advantage.
?Louisiana-Lafayette (20-10) had as much as a seven-point lead with 12:36 to play and had a chance to get the advantage to double figures. But after Cajun guard
Anthony Johnson missed a 3-pointer, WKU freshman Patrick Sparks (10 points) made one to cut the lead to four. It also started an 11-2 run for the Hilltoppers.
?WKU finally got the lead and stretched it to as many as five before Bridges, who scored all of his points in the second half, got the Cajuns back in it. The game was tied at 60-60 with 1:51 to play before Marcus, who scored 11 of the Hilltoppers' final 14 points, scored with 1:32 left. The Cajuns missed a three, and Marcus basically put the game away with a layup while being fouled with 32 seconds left. A made free throw made it a five-point game and an insurmountable lead.
?Johnson and Southall were named to the All-Tournament team. Southall -- along with WKU's Sparks -- became the first freshmen to be named to the All-Tourney team since 1984. Southall, the 2001-02 SBC Freshman of the Year, also finished with five blocks.
?The Cajuns will now hope for a bid to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will find out Sunday night.
Western Kentucky 76, Louisiana-Lafayette 70
?WKU (28-3) -- Boyden 1-7 0-0 2, Marcus 9-15 6-7 24, Videnov 4-7 3-3 12, Sparks 4-8 0-0 10, Robinson 5-8 4-7 17, Curry 0-4 0-0 0, Wells 0-3 0-0 0, Williams 0-4 1-4 1, Rowles 0-2 0-0 0, Pandov 4-7 1-1 10. Totals 27-65 15-22 76.
?LA.-LAFAYETTE (20-10) -- Boyd 0-4 0-0 0, Robins 4-7 0-1 8, Johnson 3-13 3-4 9, Southall 7-13 2-4 16, Washington 0-1 0-0 0, Landry 1-6 0-0 3, Lawrence 7-10 0-1 14, Bridges 3-9 7-7 14, Jupiter 2-2 0-0 6, Kandji 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 12-17 70.
?Half -- La.-Lafayette 36, WKU 31. 3-point field goals -- WKU 7-23 (Boyden 0-3, Videnov 1-3, Sparks 2-5, Robinson 3-4, Curry 0-1, Wells 0-3, Williams 0-1, Rowles 0-2, Pandov 0-1), La.-Lafayette 4-16 (Boyd 0-3, Johnson 0-4, Landry 1-2, Lawrence 0-1, Bridges 1-4, Jupiter 2-2). Fouled out -- none. Rebounds -- WKU 47 (Marcus, Robinson 11), La.-Lafayette 36 (Southall 11). Assists -- WKU 11 (Robinson 4), La.-Lafayette 13 (Lawrence 6). Total fouls -- WKU 16, La.-Lafayette 16. A -- 4,203.
--LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE--
