University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Orleans
Cajuns Top UNO In Overtime, Keep Home Win Streak Alive
2/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana-Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team went down inside to Michael Southall in overtime here Saturday night at the Cajundome and it paid huge dividends as the Cajuns posted a 79-75 thrilling overtime victory over New Orleans in front of a season-high crowd of 8,121.
With the Cajuns up one point, 70-69, in the extra frame the Cajuns sent in entry passes to Southall on back-to-back possessions and the West Salem, Wis., native delivered a pair of inside baskets that put the Cajuns on top 74-69 with 2:24 left in the overtime period.
UNO responded with a pair of inside baskets of their own by Nerijus Lisauskas and Johnell Smith to trim the lead back to one point at 74-73 with 48 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
The Ragin' Cajuns (16-6, 8-1 Sun Belt) would then receive five consecutive free throws from junior guard Brad Boyd in the final 21 seconds to seal the come-from-behind win over the Privateers (12-10, 5-6 Sun Belt).
Boyd made two critical freebies with 18 seconds left that put the Cajuns on top 77-73. UNO raced down the floor and Kyle Buggs rebounded a Smith three-point miss from the left corner and put it back in to pull the Privateers back to two points 77-75.
UL Lafayette head coach Jessie Evans reinserted Boyd back into the lineup, after subbing for him for defensive purposes before the Buggs putback, and he was fouled immediately by UNO's A.J. Meredith. Boyd calmly walked to the free throw line and made another pair of charities with 11 ticks left in the overtime session and the Cajuns regained the four-point advantage at 79-75.
A missed jumper by Meredith on the Privateers last attempt came off the iron and the loose ball rolled out-of-bounds with 0.9 seconds showing on the clock.
The win was the sixth straight overall for Louisiana-Lafayette and seventh straight in Sun Belt play dating back to a Jan. 9, 2003, loss at South Alabama (L, 89-93). The Ragin' Cajuns extended their Cajundome-record winning streak to 19 games and their Sun Belt Conference home win streak to 14 games dating back to the 2000-01 regular season.
The overtime game marked the first in the Cajundome for Louisiana-Lafayette since Nov. 18, 1997 when the Cajuns defeated Virginia Commonwealth 77-71 in head coach Jessie Evans first game as Cajuns head coach.
The extra session was set up when Southall was called for goaltending with one second remaining in regulation. UNO's Hector Romero went inside and put up a shot that was swatted by Southall but was deemed a violation by the officials. UL Lafayette led 65-63 at the time, having taken the lead with 26 seconds left in the second half on a Cedric Williams inside basket.
The Cajuns had not played in an overtime game home or away since the 2000-01 season when they topped UNO 86-75 on Feb. 24, 2001 in New Orleans.
Michael Southall led all Cajuns scorers with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half and overtime combined. Louisiana-Lafayette placed a total of five players in double figures including four of the five starters. Southall led all Cajuns with six assists and was limited to just five rebounds after pulling down a career-best 16 against South Alabama on Thursday.
Southall also had four blocks for the second straight outing and fourth in the last five games giving him 48 for the season and 145 for his brief two-year career. He now holds the school career mark for blocked shots, surpassing the 144 of Reginald Poole from 1994-98.
Boyd scored all 15 of his points after the intermission and was 5-of-6 at the free throw line – all in overtime to help capture the Cajuns victory.
Other Cajuns in double digits included Anthony Johnson with 13, Laurie Bridges 11 and Cedric Williams with 10. Williams played all of the overtime period with four fouls and the final 12:42 of regulation.
UL
Lafayette was 29-of-61 from the floor (48 percent)
shooting 15-for-27 in the second half (56 percent) after
struggling from the field in the first half (10-of-28,
36 percent)
The Privateers were led by Hector Romero's double-double
of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Buggs added 17, Smith 12
and Meredith 10 as UNO placed four scorers in double
digits. The Privateers shot 27-for-53 from the field (51
percent) and converted on 15-of-18 freebies.
UNO led 36-29 at halftime, the first time the Cajuns had trailed at the break since Dec. 27 against Colorado in the 2002 Pepsi Classic in Charlotte, N.C. UL Lafayette had led at the break or been tied in the previous 12 games.
The Privateers jumped out to a 9-4 lead before the first media timeout. That lead grew to 11-4 as the Cajuns were just 1-for-10 from the field to open the game.
UL Lafayette took its first lead of the game on an Immanuel Washington slam at 9:14 that gave the Cajuns an 18-17 advantage. The Cajuns last led before the half 20-19 with a Southall inside basket.
UNO extended its seven-point halftime advantage to 10 points at 43-33 with 16:50 left in regulation.
The Cajuns took their first lead of the second half, and since they led 20-19 in the first half, when Southall tipped in a Boyd miss with 6:40 left to put UL Lafayette on top 55-53.
The Cajuns would force a turnover on the ensuing possession and Washington took a feed from Williams and scored a layup to give the Cajuns a 57-53 lead, their largest at the time. UNO used a 6-0 run to go back on top 59-57 with 5:05 left to play. UL Lafayette would stretch out the lead once more to four points at 63-59 with 2:00 left before the Privateers rallied back to tie the game 63-63 with 47 seconds left on a pair of Buggs baskets.
Williams gave the Cajuns the lead back with 26 ticks left before the Southall goaltending violation knotted things up 65-65 and sent the game into overtime.
UP NEXT: Louisiana-Lafayette will conclude its current three-game homestand with a 7:05 p.m. game Tuesday, Feb. 11 against Sun Belt West Division foe Denver in the Cajundome. The Cajuns are 7-0 all-time versus the Pioneers and the average margin of victory is 15 points with all but one of the games being decided by double digits. The game will be UL Lafayette's last home game until Monday, Feb. 24 when the Cajuns host North Texas.
THE STREAK CONTINUES: With tonight's win over UNO, the Ragin' Cajuns extended their Cajundome-record winning streak to 19 games dating back to last season. This was the first overtime win during the stretch. Louisiana-Lafayette also extended its Sun Belt Conference home win streak to 19 games dating back to the 2000-01 season.
EXTRA SESSION; The Cajuns were playing their first overtime game at home since Nov. 18, 1997, when the Cajuns bested Virginia Commonwealth in overtime 77-71 in the first game for Jessie Evans as the Cajuns head coach. It was the Cajuns first overtime game in any game since Feb. 24, 2001 at New Orleans (W, 86-75). Louisiana-Lafayette had gone all of last season and this season's first 21 games without an overtime game, a span of 34 games.
BEEN A WHILE: Since the Ragin' Cajuns last trailed at halftime before tonight's 36-29 deficit to New Orleans. The Privateers became the first team to lead the Cajuns at the break since Colorado did so on Dec. 27, 2002 in Charlotte, N.C., at the Pepsi Classic. UL Lafayette had been tied or ahead at halftime for the past 12 games.
SEASON-HIGH CROWD: Saturday night's attendance of 8,121 was treated to a great men's college basketball game. The crowd was a season-high for UL Lafayette, surpassing the 6,618 that attended the Jan. 25 game against Middle Tennessee.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
