University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, December 20
Cincinnati, Ohio
N/A
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
74
at
78
Xavier
Cajuns Fall Victim To Second-Half Rally From Xavier
12/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, Dec. 20, 2003
CINCINNATI –
Romain Sato scored a game-high 23
points and made four
crucial free throws in the final minute as the host-Xavier Musketeers
rallied from a five-point halftime deficit and held on for a 78-74
victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team here
Saturday afternoon at the Cintas Center.
Trailing 49-39 with 17:57 left in the game XU (5-3) staged a 25-10 run
over the next nine minutes to pull out in front 64-59 with 8:17
remaining.
The key stretch for the Musketeers came with a 12-0 run after UL
Lafayette had ended a 10-0 XU run that tied the game 49-49 with eight
unanswered points to jump out in front 57-49 with 13:23 left in the
game.
With the game tied 57-57 Keith Jackson knocked down a jumper in the
lane to give XU the lead 59-57. On the ensuing possession the Cajuns would turn the ball over and Jackson grabbed the loose ball and raced back in for a slam to extend the Musketeers lead to 61-57.
The Cajuns would fight back to take the lead with 3:44 remaining in the
game when Laurie Bridges rebounded his own miss and converted the
basket to put UL Lafayette up 70-68.
After XU tied the game 70-70 on a basket by Brandon Cole the Cajuns
regained the lead one last time at the 2:39 mark with a free throw from
Cedric Williams.
On the next trip down the court the Musketeers missed a layup with the
chance to take the lead and the Cajuns had an excellent opportunity to
increase their lead.
However, a turnover gave the ball back to XU and Dedrick Finn broke
away for a layup as the shot clock was winding down to put the Musketeers back to top for good 72-71 with 2:03 left on the clock.
From there the Musketeers would seal the win from the free throw line
beginning with the first pair of Sato's four freebies down the stretch
at the 1:06 mark.
The Cajuns pulled within three points, 77-74, with five seconds left on
a layup by Antoine Landry.
Jackson made it a two-possession game with a free throw on the next
possession and time ran out on the Cajuns.
The loss snapped a two-game win streak for UL Lafayette and keeps them winless on the road this season. Xavier extended its homecourt win
streak to 11 games with the victory.
Sato's point total led the Musketeers and was a game high.
Landry scored a career-best 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting (4-of-6
three-point field goals). Brad Boyd scored 14, Brian Hamilton 12 and
Laurie Bridges and Dwayne Mitchell had 10 apiece as the Cajuns placed
five scorers in double-figures.
Anthony Myles grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Musketeers who out-rebounded the Cajuns 37-34 including a 25-18 edge in the second
half.
Brian Hamilton led Louisiana-Lafayette with eight rebounds.
Xavier made 19-of-26 free throws led by a 10-of-12 performance by
Romain Sato. UL Lafayette made nine free throws and attempted 13.
The Cajuns shot 48 percent from the floor (28-of-58) making 63 percent
of their shots (19-of-30) in the first half. In the second half, UL
Lafayette slipped to 32 percent from the field.
The first half went back-and-forth with each team answering the others
score. There were six tied scores and the lead changed hands 13 times.
Trailing 32-30 with five minutes remaining in the opening frame,
Louisiana-Lafayette used a 12-2 run to grab its largest lead of the
half and take the lead going into the locker room - the fifth straight game
the Cajuns led at the half.
Mitchell opened the first of a pair of 6-0 runs for the Cajuns and tied
the game 32-32. Hamilton nailed a jumper at the top of the lane at the
4:21 mark to give the Cajuns the lead again at 34-32.
Following the media timeout at the 3:56 mark, Landry picked up the
loose ball off a steal by Bridges and raced down the court for the fastbreak layup.
A pair of freebies from Lionel Chamlers helped XU end the run and cut
the lead to 36-34 with 3:30 left in the half.
UL Lafayette would then go on another 6-0 run keyed by an inside basket
from Hamilton, a reverse layup from Mitchell and basket from Bridges to
make it 42-34 with 1:10 left in the first half.
Chalmers ended the run and made the final basket of the half with a
three-pointer on the Musketeers ensuing possession.
Louisiana-Lafayette will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 28 against
Valparaiso in the opening round of the Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic
in Tucson, Ariz.
crucial free throws in the final minute as the host-Xavier Musketeers
rallied from a five-point halftime deficit and held on for a 78-74
victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team here
Saturday afternoon at the Cintas Center.
Trailing 49-39 with 17:57 left in the game XU (5-3) staged a 25-10 run
over the next nine minutes to pull out in front 64-59 with 8:17
remaining.
The key stretch for the Musketeers came with a 12-0 run after UL
Lafayette had ended a 10-0 XU run that tied the game 49-49 with eight
unanswered points to jump out in front 57-49 with 13:23 left in the
game.
With the game tied 57-57 Keith Jackson knocked down a jumper in the
lane to give XU the lead 59-57. On the ensuing possession the Cajuns would turn the ball over and Jackson grabbed the loose ball and raced back in for a slam to extend the Musketeers lead to 61-57.
The Cajuns would fight back to take the lead with 3:44 remaining in the
game when Laurie Bridges rebounded his own miss and converted the
basket to put UL Lafayette up 70-68.
After XU tied the game 70-70 on a basket by Brandon Cole the Cajuns
regained the lead one last time at the 2:39 mark with a free throw from
Cedric Williams.
On the next trip down the court the Musketeers missed a layup with the
chance to take the lead and the Cajuns had an excellent opportunity to
increase their lead.
However, a turnover gave the ball back to XU and Dedrick Finn broke
away for a layup as the shot clock was winding down to put the Musketeers back to top for good 72-71 with 2:03 left on the clock.
From there the Musketeers would seal the win from the free throw line
beginning with the first pair of Sato's four freebies down the stretch
at the 1:06 mark.
The Cajuns pulled within three points, 77-74, with five seconds left on
a layup by Antoine Landry.
Jackson made it a two-possession game with a free throw on the next
possession and time ran out on the Cajuns.
The loss snapped a two-game win streak for UL Lafayette and keeps them winless on the road this season. Xavier extended its homecourt win
streak to 11 games with the victory.
Sato's point total led the Musketeers and was a game high.
Landry scored a career-best 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting (4-of-6
three-point field goals). Brad Boyd scored 14, Brian Hamilton 12 and
Laurie Bridges and Dwayne Mitchell had 10 apiece as the Cajuns placed
five scorers in double-figures.
Anthony Myles grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Musketeers who out-rebounded the Cajuns 37-34 including a 25-18 edge in the second
half.
Brian Hamilton led Louisiana-Lafayette with eight rebounds.
Xavier made 19-of-26 free throws led by a 10-of-12 performance by
Romain Sato. UL Lafayette made nine free throws and attempted 13.
The Cajuns shot 48 percent from the floor (28-of-58) making 63 percent
of their shots (19-of-30) in the first half. In the second half, UL
Lafayette slipped to 32 percent from the field.
The first half went back-and-forth with each team answering the others
score. There were six tied scores and the lead changed hands 13 times.
Trailing 32-30 with five minutes remaining in the opening frame,
Louisiana-Lafayette used a 12-2 run to grab its largest lead of the
half and take the lead going into the locker room - the fifth straight game
the Cajuns led at the half.
Mitchell opened the first of a pair of 6-0 runs for the Cajuns and tied
the game 32-32. Hamilton nailed a jumper at the top of the lane at the
4:21 mark to give the Cajuns the lead again at 34-32.
Following the media timeout at the 3:56 mark, Landry picked up the
loose ball off a steal by Bridges and raced down the court for the fastbreak layup.
A pair of freebies from Lionel Chamlers helped XU end the run and cut
the lead to 36-34 with 3:30 left in the half.
UL Lafayette would then go on another 6-0 run keyed by an inside basket
from Hamilton, a reverse layup from Mitchell and basket from Bridges to
make it 42-34 with 1:10 left in the first half.
Chalmers ended the run and made the final basket of the half with a
three-pointer on the Musketeers ensuing possession.
Louisiana-Lafayette will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 28 against
Valparaiso in the opening round of the Fiesta Bowl Basketball Classic
in Tucson, Ariz.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
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