University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Mexico State
Cajuns Top Aggies In Sun Belt Opener
1/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thursday, Jan. 2, 2003
LAFAYETTE – All five starters scored in double figures as Louisiana-Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team scored a 81-74 win over New Mexico State in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams here at the Cajundome Thursday evening, giving head coach Jessie Evans the 100th win of his NCAA Division I head coaching career.
The Cajuns win also was the 15th straight at the Cajundome, establishing a new school record for consecutive wins within the friendly confines. The previous record was 14 straight set from Feb. 4, 1993-Feb. 5, 1994.
Evans became the third-fastest and fifth in coach in school history to reach 100 wins. He is now 100-66 as a head coach overall and at UL Lafayette. Evans' journey to 100 wins is third only to Bobby Paschal (148 games) and Beryl Shipley (159 games).
UL Lafayette (8-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) won its eighth consecutive SBC opener and improved to 10-2 all-time in such contests and a perfect 6-0 under Evans. The Cajuns extended their winning streak to three games and have won seven of the last nine games since a 1-2 start.
Junior guard and New Orleans native Laurie Bridges paced the Cajuns with a career-high 21 points on a career-high eight field goals made. Sophomore center Michael Southall was the Cajuns second leading scorer with 14 points and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds (4 offensive) to go along with four blocked shots. Brad Boyd (12 points), Kenneth Lawrence (11 points) and Cedric Williams (12 points) rounded out the Cajuns starting five with double digits in the point column.
NMSU (8-3, 0-1 Sun Belt), playing its first game since a Dec. 23 win over Texas-Arlington in Las Cruces, N.M., was paced by junior forward James Moore who tallied a game-high 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Jason Fontenet scored 20 points and dished out an Aggie-best and game-best six assists. Senior center Chris Jackson pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds with a game-high six offensive boards.
The Cajuns won their third straight over the Aggies and fourth in five Sun Belt meetings between the two schools. NMSU remains winless all-time at the Cajundome (0-3) and in the city of Lafayette (0-4).
UL Lafayette shot 30-of-59 from the floor (50.8 percent), had seven blocks and 10 steals in grabbing the early lead in the Sun Belt West Division race. The Cajuns defense forced 17 NMSU turnovers. Louisiana-Lafayette shot above 50 percent for the third straight game and the eighth time this season. NMSU was 31-of-66 from the floor (47 percent)
UL Lafayette went into the locker room with a 40-34 advantage after trailing by as many as nine points in the opening frame. NMSU built a 21-12 lead at 11:06 of the first half with a 12-1 run after a Boyd three-pointer gave the Cajuns an 11-9 lead at the first media timeout. The Cajuns responded with a 13-2 run over the next 2 ˝ minutes of play to regain the lead 25-23 on an Immanuel Washington slam following a steal prompting a Lou Henson and Aggies timeout.
The Aggies would tie the game 25-25 on a Moore slam 16 seconds later. UL Lafayette's Chris Cameron would follow with two free throws on the ensuing possession to give the Cajuns a 27-25 lead, one they would not relinquish the rest of the game. The Cajuns improved to 6-0 this season when leading at halftime.
The Cajuns opened the second half with two Cedric Williams inside baskets and a Boyd layup off of a steal to take their first double-digit lead of the game 46-36 with 17:40 remaining in the contest.
The closest NSMU would get was four points, 55-51, with 8:37 left in the game. An Allen Haynes three-pointer from the left side of the lane cut a once 10-point Cajuns advantage down to four points and prompted a UL Lafayette timeout.
The Cajuns responded with a 6-0 run which all but decided the outcome of the ballgame. A Boyd 12-foot jumper on the right baseline followed by two Southall freebies and a Bridges driving layup in the lane built a 61-51 UL Lafayette lead with 6:45 to play.
The Aggies didn't give in after the Cajuns rebuilt their lead to a games-high 12 points at 69-57 with 3:37 to play. The Aggies rallied behind a 7-0 run that cut the lead to 69-64 with 1:40 remaining in the game. NSMU trimmed the Cajuns lead to 71-66 with 1:03 to play but a Bridges layin off a long inbounds pass from Boyd gave the Cajuns a 73-66 lead with 1:00 to play and took the wind out of the Aggies sails. Free throws down the stretch sealed the Cajuns win.
UL Lafayette will now embark on a four-game road trip which begins Saturday, Jan. 4 with a 7:30 p.m. at Houston.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
