University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama
Southall Leads Cajuns Past Jaguars
2/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003
LAFAYETTE – Michael Southall scored a season-high 24 points, tied a career-best with 16 rebounds and made three baskets in the final two-plus minutes to help propel Louisiana-Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team to a 67-60, heart-stopping victory over Sun Belt Conference West Division rival South Alabama here Thursday evening in the Cajundome in front of a crowd of 5,524.
Louisiana-Lafayette won its fifth straight overall which is a season-high and moved four games head of USA in the loss column in the Sun Belt West Division. The Cajuns also extended their Sun Belt Conference winning streak to six games and avenged its lone SBC loss of the season to South Alabama, 93-89 in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 9.
In a game in which there were a total of 14 ties and 14 lead changes and saw neither team hold a lead larger than the final margin of seven points, Southall provided boost for the Cajuns down the stretch to help keep alive their home-court winning streak which now stands at 18 overall and 13 straight against Sun Belt foes.
It was a Southall's one-handed, coming-down-the-lane, driving slam dunk at 2:16 left in the game which gave UL Lafayette a 61-60 lead, after trailing 60-59 on a Malerick Bedden three-pointer on the left corner of the key with 4:09 to play.
The Cajuns defense stood tall in those final 2 minutes and 16 seconds as USA went scoreless and the Cajuns forced the Jags into three critical turnovers, the last of which forced Henry Williams into a traveling violation with 15 seconds left and the Cajuns up 65-60.Southall added two more baskets with 1:02 and 37 seconds remaining to seal the win. Immanuel Washington wrapped up the scoring with a layup with 11 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.
Southall was 10-for-14 on the night and had four blocks and two steals to go along with his 16 rebounds. Laurie Bridges scored 13 points as the Cajuns other scorer with double digits and had a pair of three-pointers and an insdide basket midway through the second half which gave the Cajuns their largest lead at the time, 53-47, with 11:11 left to play.
Louisiana-Lafayette (15-6, 7-1 Sun Belt) shot 27-for-57 from the floor in the game (47 percent) and was 14-for-28 (50 percent) in the decisive second half. The Ragin' Cajuns had 21 assists and 14 turnovers, marking the third straight game in which UL Lafayette had more assists than turnovers.
Kenneth Lawrence led the Cajuns with seven assists marking the fifth straight game in which he posted five-plus assists. He now has 97 assists this season and tied Michael Allen (1991-94) for 10th all-time on the career assists chart with 371 assists in 104 career games.
The loss for USA (11-10, 5-5 Sun Belt) spoiled a stellar outing by forward Malerick Bedden who scored a game-high 27 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc. Richard Law scored 12 points and made three three-pointers to give the Jaguars two double-figure scorers. The Jags shot just 23-of-60 from the field (38 percent) and were only 9-of-25 in the second stanza. USA missed its final six shots from the field.
USA outrebounded the Cajuns 38-34 including 17-15 on the offensive glass. Bedden and Justin White each had five offensive rebounds for the Jags while Southall led all players with six.
The Cajuns had eight blocks to just one for USA. Southall had four blocks marking the sixth time this season he has had at least four blocks and third time in the last four games. He needs just four more blocks to become Louisiana-Lafayette's all-time career blocked shots leader.
There were nine ties in the first half alone as neither team managed a lead larger than three points. The Cajuns rallied from three-point deficits twice in the final 2:05 of the first half to tie the game 34-34 at the break and keep a streak of 12 straight games of being either ahead or tied at the half alive.
Southall had 14 points and eight rebounds in the first half. The Jaguars outrebounded the Cajuns 23-17 in the opening frame allowing them to keep the game close.
UP NEXT: Louisiana-Lafayette continues its current three-game homestand on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003 when it hosts in-state rival New Orleans at 7:05 p.m. The Cajuns defeated UNO 78-71 on Jan. 11 in Lakefront Arena and have won 10 of the last 13 meetings with the long-time I-10 rivals. UL Lafayette has won the last four meetings between the two schools in the Cajundome.
FINALLY FIVE: After failing in its previous two attempts at a five game win streak, Louisiana-Lafayette which entered Thursday's game having won four straight for the third time this season, picked up its season-high fifth straight win in its third attempt with Thursday's win over USA.
HOME COURT WIN STREAK STILL ALIVE: With Thursday night's win, the Ragin' Cajuns extended their Cajundome-record winning streak to 18 games dating back to last season's 84-72 win over Birmingham-Southern College on Dec. 9, 2001. The Cajuns remained undefeated at home this season, improving to 7-0, and kept alive their bid for its first-ever perfect home season in the Cajundome and first since on its home court since the 1972-73 season.
SUN BELT HOME STREAK STILL ALIVE: UL Lafayette won its 13th straight home Sun Belt Conference game Thursday night. The Cajuns have not lost an SBC affair on their home floor since Feb. 3, 2001 when Arkansas State won 82-80.
--- Ragin' Cajuns --
