University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
McNeese State
Cameron Lifts Cajuns Over McNeese With Last-Second Triple
12/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2004
LAKE CHARLES – Chris Cameron scored just three points the entire second half, but they were the points that counted the most for Louisiana-Lafayette.
Cameron hit an open three-point shot with 0.9 seconds remaining in the game handing the visiting Ragin' Cajuns a 71-70 victory over McNeese State here Thursday evening at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
Cameron's basket helped Louisiana-Lafayette erase a 70-68 deficit and record its first back-to-back victories of the season and of the Robert Lee Era.
The win was the second straight for the Cajuns who defeated Georgia State 67-50 on Monday night and moved the squad back to the .500 mark with a 5-5 record.
Cameron's triple was made possible by two missed free throws from Derek Gray with 21 seconds remaining. The second miss was tapped out of the lane by Brian Hamilton and into the hands of Gray.
Gray worked the ball around the wing over to Tiras Wade who lifted a three-point attempt that came up just short. However, the carom found Wade who was crashing to the basket and saved the ball from landing out-of-bounds and over to McNeese.
Dwayne Mitchell was working his way inside the lane for an apparent six-foot jump shot before UL Lafayette head coach Robert Lee called a timeout to draw up a play.
Mitchell inbounded the ball to Cameron who threw the ball back to Mitchell at the top of the key. Cameron circled around to the left wing where Mitchell dished the ball back to the 6-foot-11 Aussie who promptly drained the game-wining shot.
Hamilton led the Cajuns in scoring with 20 points – 15 of which came in the second half helping Louisiana-Lafayette to a 26-10 edge on points in the paint in the second half alone.
Wade notched his second straight double-double, scoring 18 points and collecting a career-high 13 rebounds.
Chris Cameron and Dwayne Mitchell added 14 and 13 points respectively to give UL Lafayette four scorers in double-digits. Mitchell played the final 10:27 of the game with four fouls – a key as the Cajuns had lost a 42-35 lead when the New Orleans native exited with four fouls at 16:40.
McNeese got a double-double from freshman Aldrynn Wardell who scored 14 points and pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds. Kinley Sellers led the Cowboys with 15 points.
The Cameron three-point basket was the hero play of the game. But perhaps the usung hero moment of the contest came on the Cowboys' final possession of the evening.
With McNeese clinging to a 70-68 lead with 51 seconds left to play, the Cowboys walked up the court with an opportunity to make it a two possession game. Troy Aaron attempted to get the ball over to the left wing, but his entry pass was intercepted by Mitchell.
Mitchell's steal gave Louisiana-Lafayette the ball and led to the eventual game-winning shot by Cameron.
Cameron's basket to win the game with just tenths-of-a-second left to play was a fitting end to a game that saw alternating lead changes over the final 12 minutes.
The Cajuns sprinted out to a 4-0 lead just 30 seconds into the game. Ross Mouton hit a jumper on the left wing at 19:45 then Hamilton was on the receiving end of his own steal for an easy slam at 19:33.
Louisiana-Lafayette opened an 8-3 lead at 17:54 when Mouton found Hamilton in transition for a fastbreak layup.
Hamilton's basket would be the Cajuns final field goal over a five-minute span as the Cowboys slowly worked their way back into a tie. A triple by Kinley Sellers in the left corner at 14:52 knotted the score at 8-8.
A pair of freebies by Wade at 14:27 gave the Cajuns a 10-8 advantage. Sellers dialed in from long distance for McNeese on the ensuing possession to give the hosts an 11-10 with 14:07 remaining in the half.
A running one-handed basket by Mitchell at 12:53 gave the Cajuns the lead back and triggered a 10-1 run that put Louisiana-Lafayette up 20-12 at 8:51.
The Cajuns opened a 26-17 lead at 5:48 before the Cowboys used a 9-3 run to close the lead to 29-26.
It was a ball which got wedged between the glass and the backboard that swung the momentum back over to the Cajuns side and kept the Cowboys from getting any closer.
Wade answered for the Cajuns on the other end at 2:14 with a 16-foot bank shot as he was double-teamed to put UL Lafayette on top 31-26.
Aaron hit a three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining before the break to pull McNeese within two points.
The Cowboys evened the game at 31-31 with a pair of freebies by Wardell at 19:48 of the second half. Wade broke the tie with a running jumper 12 seconds later to make it 33-31.
Louisiana-Lafayette built up a 41-34 lead at 17:22 as Hamilton dominated inside scoring six of the Cajuns next eight points.
Mitchell picked up his fourth foul at 16:56 and was forced to sit the next six minutes. The Cowboys took advantage of the Cajuns losing their fill-in point guard (subbing for injured Orien Greene) outscoring the visitors 16-7 to pull in front 51-49 with 10:27 remaining in the game.
After a pair of free throws by Sellers gave the Cowboys the two-point lead, Mitchell re-entered the game. His presence was immediately felt as the Cajuns got back-to-back inside baskets from Hamilton to regain the lead, 53-51 with 9:49 left to play.
From there the lead changed hands six different times. Wade hit a leaning jumper in traffic at 2:45 to put the Cajuns up 66-65. J.T. Williams answered for the Cowboys on the other end at 2:09 to give McNeese the lead once more.
A missed layup by Mitchell on the other end led to another inside basket by Wardell that stretched the Cowboys lead to 69-66.
Louisiana-Lafayette had a shot to tie the game on the next possession, but Wade misfired on a triple and Gray couldn't handle the rebound giving the ball back to McNeese.
Cameron fouled Williams on an offensive rebound with 57 seconds left, not allowing Williams to get an easy two points. It worked as he made just one of the two free throws giving the Cowboys 70 points instead of 71 which would have forged a tie on Cameron's game-winning shot.
Louisiana-Lafayette will return to action after the calendar year hits 2005. The Cajuns will visit Vanderbilt on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2005, for a 4 p.m. contest in Nashville, Tenn., at Vandy's Memorial Gym.
Box Score
Louisiana-Lafayette vs McNeese State
12/23/04 7:00 pm at Lake Charles Civic Center
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 71, MCNEESE STATE 70
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
(5-5) Hamilton 9-16 2-6 20; Wade 6-16 5-6 18; Cameron 5-9
2-4 14; Mitchell 6-10 1-2 13; Mouton 2-6 0-0 4; Ford 1-2 0-0
2; James 0-0 0-0 0; Gray 0-3 0-2 0; Fobbs 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
29-63 10-20 71.
MCNEESE STATE (4-6) Sellers 5-9 3-4 15; Garrie 5-9 1-2 14;
Wardell 5-9 4-9 14; Williams 3-9 1-4 8; Ford 3-4 0-1 7;
Dorsey 2-5 2-5 6; Aaron 1-9 1-2 4; Manciel 1-4 0-0 2; Queen
0-1 0-0 0; Price 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-60 12-27 70.
Louisiana-Lafayette........... 31 40 - 71
McNeese State................. 29 41 - 70
3-point goals - Louisiana-Lafayette 3-13 (Cameron 2-4; Wade 1-3; Mouton 0-4; Ford 0-1; Gray 0-1), McNeese State 8-13 (Garriet 3-6; Sellers 2-2; Ford 1-1; Williams 1-2; Aaron 1-2). Fouled out - Louisiana-Lafayette-None, McNeese State-None. Rebounds - Louisiana-Lafayette 41 (Wade 13), McNeese State 42 (Wardell 17). Assists - Louisiana-Lafayette 11 (Mitchell 3; Wade 3), McNeese State 12 (Aaron 5). Total fouls -Louisiana-Lafayette 18, McNeese State 17. A-1341.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
