University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Southern Illinois
Cameron Comes Through With Another Last-Second Game-Winner
1/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005
With the score tied 61-61 after SIU's Mike Dale converted one-of-two free throws with 27 seconds remaining, the Cajuns began their march down the court. Head coach Robert Lee signaled for a timeout with 18 seconds remaining.
After inbounding the ball, the Cajuns rotated around the perimeter before Brian Hamilton began a baseline drive for the game-winning assist.
Hamilton drew several Salukis defenders to him out on the right wing, but he calmly dished the ball to behind them on the baseline over to Cameron who lifted a layup off the glass and into the net for his second, last-second game-winning shot of the season.
The play brought back memories of Cameron's last-second three-point basket that sank McNeese State 71-70 on Dec. 23.
The trio of Cameron, Hamilton and Tiras Wade combined to score 47 points for the Cajuns with Wade's 18 being a team-best and tying for the game-high.
Louisiana-Lafayette shot above 50 percent in each half and held the Salukis to 41 percent shooting for the game.
The Cajuns also held on despite missing 13 free throws (9-of-22 from the charity stripe) and committing more turnovers (18-14) than SIU.
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette extended its non-conference winning streak at the Cajundome to 15 straight games and its current overall win streak in the facility to 10 games.
The Cajuns fell behind 12-6 early in the first half as Stetson Hairston made a pair of triples to spot the Salukis an early advantage five minutes into the game.
Louisiana-Lafayette's defense stepped up and the offense rolled off a 13-4 run to give the Cajuns their first lead of the game. Included in the run was a string of nine consecutive points after a LaMar Owen inside basket off a fastbreak gave SIU at 16-10 lead with 12:56 remaining before the half.
A three-point basket by Ross Mouton at 12:27 triggered the Cajuns' rally which was capped off by a pair of inside buckets from Hamilton at 10:56 and 10:35 to give UL Lafayette a 19-16 lead.
SIU answered on the next possession when Dale scored inside to cut the Cajuns lead to 19-18. Hairston converted a pair of freebies at 9:23 following a turnover by Wade to give the Salukis their final lead of the contest.
With nine minutes left in the half, Hamilton tapped in a miss jumper by Mouton to give the Cajuns a 21-20 lead – a lead the squad would not surrender until Dale's first free throw with 27 seconds tied the game at 61-61.
After a jumper by Hairston at 6:43 pulled SIU within one point, 23-22, the Cajuns held the Salukis without a field goal for the next two-plus minutes and stretched the advantage to 27-22.
SIU would cut the lead to 29-27 at the 2:36 mark, but Cameron's first triple of the game pushed the Cajuns lead back to five points.
Louisiana-Lafayette led by as many as nine points in the second half when a 15-foot jumper by Wade at 10:57 gave the hosts a 51-42 edge.
The Salukis worked their way back into the game and set up the final seconds of heroics by going on a 7-0 run following Wade's bucket that trimmed the UL Lafayette lead to 51-49 with 9:44 left to play.
Wade stopped the run when he converted a 1-and-1 situation at the free throw line for a 53-49 lead.
The Salukis were still within one point with six minutes left to play. A long-range triple from Dale 22 feet out on the left wing made it 55-54.
A pair of missed three-point baskets, the second by Jamaal Tatum with 5:16 left led to a long outlet pass from Hamilton found Wade down on the other end for an easy layup and gave the Cajuns a 57-54 lead.
A turnover by SIU and a pair of missed shots led to four more points by the Cajuns that gave the hosts a seven point lead, 61-54.
Louisiana-Lafayette's free throw struggles almost cost the team a chance to continue its homecourt winning streak.
After a three-point basket by Hairston closed the gap to 61-57 with 2:12 remaining, the Cajuns missed four consecutive free throws with a chance to ice the game. Dwayne Mitchell missed a pair of freebies with at the 1:00 mark and Cameron missed twice with 47 seconds left.
Dale drove the lane and hit the shot as he was fouled by Cameron with 37 seconds showing. He converted the three-point play and the Salukis were within one point at 61-60.
After the inbounds pass, Hairston stole the ball from Cameron to set up Dale at the free throw line.
Dale made the first freebie, then misfired on the second attempt. Hamilton grabbed the defensive rebound and the Cajuns worked the ball to midcourt before a timeout to call the last play.
Louisiana-Lafayette returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 8 as the squad hosts Denver at 7:05 p.m. in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams.
Box Score
Southern Illinois at Louisiana-Lafayette
01/05/05 7:05 p.m. at Lafayette, La. (Cajundome)
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 63, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 61
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (11-3)
Hairston 6-10 3-4 18; Owen 8-10 2-2 18; Dale 4-8 2-4 12;
Young 1-3 2-2 5; Brooks 2-10 0-0 4; Tatum 1-5 0-0 2; Shaw
1-3 0-0 2; Foster 0-1 0-0 0; Warren 0-3 0-0 0; Falker 0-2
0-1 0.
Totals 23-55 9-13 61.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (6-6) Wade 7-12 3-4 18; Hamilton
8-14 1-6 17; Cameron 4-8 2-4 12; Ford 3-6 1-2 7; Mitchell
2-2 2-6 6; Mouton 1-6 0-0 3; Rhodman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
25-48 9-22 63.
Southern Illinois.............
27 34 - 61
Louisiana-Lafayette........... 33 30 - 63
3-point goals - Southern Illinois 6-18 (Hairston 3-5; Dale 2-4; Young 1-2; Tatum 0-3; Brooks 0-4), Louisiana-Lafayette 4-12 (Cameron 2-3; Mouton 1-4; Wade 1-2; Ford 0-3). Fouled out - Southern Illinois-Young, Louisiana-Lafayette-None. Rebounds - Southern Illinois 32 (Owen 8), Louisiana-Lafayette 33 (Hamilton 8). Assists - Southern Illinois 13 (Brooks 8), Louisiana-Lafayette 13 (Mitchell 9). Total fouls - Southern Illinois 21, Louisiana-Lafayette 16. A-3366
-Ragin' Cajuns-
