University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama
Jaguars Nip Cajuns With Second-Half Rally
1/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thursday, Jan. 15, 2004
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana-Lafayette committed 20 turnovers in the game, none more costly than an errant pass by Laurie Bridges with nine seconds remaining in the game with the Ragin' Cajuns trailing by one point, as South Alabama escaped with a 76-73 victory here Thursday night at the Cajundome in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action.
Malerick Bedden scored a game-high 18 points for the Jaguars (7-7, 2-1 Sun Belt) including the game-winning basket with 19 seconds left to play.
Bedden put back a missed layup by Shane Spencer to give USA a 74-73 lead – its first lead since the 17-minute mark of the second half.
Louisiana-Lafayette led by one point, 73-72, and had possession of the ball with 30 seconds remaining.
Antoine Landry was dribbling near midcourt when Spencer stole the ball and raced down the court. Spencer would miss the layup, but Bedden was trailing the play and grabbed the loose ball and converted the layup for the game-winner.
The Cajuns (6-5, 1-1 Sun Belt) had a chance to setup an attempt for the winning basket. Head coach Jessie Evans called a timeout with 13 seconds left to draw up a play.
After the inbounds pass following the timeout, Bridges was penetrating inside the wing when he decided to dish the ball back out on the perimeter. The only problem was no one from UL Lafayette was on the receiving end of the pass and it landed out-of-bounds turning the ball back over to the Jaguars.
Richard Law was fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass by USA and was sent to the charity stripe with seven seconds on the clock. Law made both freebies to extend the USA lead to 76-73.
On Louisiana-Lafayette's return possession, Dwayne Mitchell opted for the quick layup for two points, but his attempt rolled off the rim and the clock expired on the Cajuns.
The loss was the first at home this season for UL Lafayette. For South Alabama, it was the first win on an opponent's home floor.
The Jaguars outscored the Cajuns 16-3 in the final 5:38 of the contest after UL Lafayette had taken a 70-60 lead. The Cajuns were held to just one field goal in the decisive stretch.
Four players scored in double-figures for the Cajuns. Brian Hamilton and Antoine Landry each had 16 points to lead the team. Laurie Bridges scored 14 and Brad Boyd had 11.
Hamilton and Bridges each had a game-high seven rebounds. Louisiana-Lafayette outrebounded South Alabama 31-26.
Law had 17 points and made his only two free throws of the game to give the Jaguars the three-point lead with seven seconds left.
UL Lafayette opened the second half with a 15-3 run to take a 50-41 lead with 13:33 left to play.
Trailing 40-36 at the 18:00 mark, the Cajuns would force a USA turnover on the next possession. Brad Boyd would hit a three-pointer on return possession by Louisiana-Lafayette to trim the lead to 40-39.
A free throw from Henry Williams would put the Jaguars up 41-39 with 16:57 remaining in the game.
Boyd answered 20 seconds later with his second 3-pointer of the half to put the Cajuns on top 42-41.
Boyd's three was the first of 11 unanswered by UL Lafayette that gave the Cajuns a 50-41 lead with 13:33 left to play.
USA would then use a 13-6 run to cut the Cajuns lead to 56-54 with 10:13 remaining in the game.
South Alabama opened with the game's first four points getting a free throw from Michael Phillips nine seconds in and a three on the left baseline from Phillips at the 18:58 mark.
Louisiana-Lafayette would then use a 13-3 run to open the largest lead of the half at 13-7 with 15:29 left in the opening frame.
The Jaguars would rally to tie the game 17-17 at the 10:45 mark.
The lead would change hand seven times over the final seven minutes of the first half with the last lead change coming with 59 seconds remaining before the break. Chris Young made a pair of freebies to give the Jaguars a 36-35 advantage.
Malerick Bedden finished the first-half scoring when he rebounded a miss shot by Seth Miller to give USA a 38-35 lead at the half.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
