University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Mobile
Cajuns Win Second Straight, Down Mobile 110-65
12/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2003
Laurie Bridges tallied a game-high and season-high 21 points to lead Louisiana-Lafayette. Brad Boyd, Chris Cameron and Brian Hamilton each scored 14 points and Antoine Landry 11 to round out the starting five in double-digits.
Dwayne Mitchell contributed 11 points off the bench as the Cajuns totaled six players in double-figures scoring. The Cajuns received a season-high 36 points from the bench.
UL Lafayette (3-2) shot 58 percent from the floor (39-of-67) – the first time this season the team shot above 50 percent. The Cajuns made 21-of-33 shots (63 percent) in the second half.
The Cajuns out-rebounded the Rams 46-27 including a 31-17 advantage on the defensive glass. Brian Hamilton grabbed a game-high 11 boards to complete his first double-double of the season.
Louisiana-Lafayette made 23-of-29 free throws to just 5-of-13 from Mobile. Bridges made 10-of-11 free throws to set a new career personal best for free throws made.
The 110 points scored by the Cajuns marked the first time over the century mark since Dec. 11, 2002 when UL Lafayette defeated Louisiana College 117-57.
With the win, the Cajuns moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season and extended their non-conference homecourt win streak to 10 games.
Mobile (8-3), a member of the NAIA ranks, received a team-best 16 points from Tramaine Perry. The Rams suffered their second straight loss to a Division I team in three nights (lost to Nicholls State 81-71 Monday).
The visitors stayed within striking distance nearly midway through the second half thanks in part to shooting 50 percent in the opening half.
However, UM shot just 32 percent (10-of-31) in the second stanza, which included a string of misses in an eight-plus minute scoreless drought, and the Cajuns were able to pull away and turn the game into a rout.
With 12:17 left in the game, Seluynn Palmer knocked down a 22-foot jumper at the top of the key to cut the Rams deficit to 72-56. That would be the final basket for UM until the 3:54 mark.
UL Lafayette then used a 29-0 run beginning with a Cedric Williams inside bucket at the 12:05 mark of the second half to break open the contest.
A Mitchell alley-oop dunk with 4:33 left to play in the game put the exclamation point on the string of unanswered points and gave Louisiana-Lafayette a 101-56 lead
Following a timeout by Mobile, Gimel Lewis ended the Rams scoreless drought that lasted nearly nine minutes when he putback a Jacob Loucks miss on the third attempt.
The game was tied 2-2 at the 19:06 mark of the first half on a Cameron 15-foot jumper.
Boyd broke the tie, the only one of the game, with his first three-pointer of the game. Boyd's basket sparked an 8-0 run for the Cajuns and the outcome was never in doubt.
UL Lafayette led by as many as 21 points in the opening frame, but UM scored the final seven points of the half to close the gap to 55-41 at the break.
After trading scores to open the second half, Landry made a three-point basket on back-to-back possessions to open a 63-44 lead with 17:58 remaining.
Louisiana-Lafayette, playing its final home game of December, returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 20 in a 1 p.m. (CT) at Xavier (Ohio). The XU game marks the beginning of a three-game road trip to end the month of December.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
