University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Denver
Cajuns Drop Sun Belt Opener to Denver, Home Win Streak Snapped
1/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005
The loss was Louisiana-Lafayette's first in a Sun Belt opener since Dec. 29, 1994, when South Alabama posted a 96-92 win at the Cajundome. It also snapped the Ragin' Cajuns (6-7, 0-1 Sun Belt) 10-game home court win streak which was the nation's 16th-longest home court win streak.
Denver (6-6, 1-0 Sun Belt) outrebounded Louisiana-Lafayette 30-27 (19-14 on the defensive end) and it was two crucial offensive rebounds by the visitors in the last six minutes that wound up making the difference in the contest.
Leading 55-53 after the Cajuns got a free throw from Brian Hamilton at 6:03, Denver's Erik Benzel found himself wide open and the senior from Spokane, Wash., nailed a 24-foot triple from the left of the key.
Chris Cameron converted a pair of free throws for UL Lafayette on the other end cutting the lead to 58-55.
The first crucial offensive board for DU came on the ensuing possession when a jumper on the right wing by Brett Seger bounced off the iron over to the left side. Terrence Gordon snuck around a pair of Cajun defenders and grabbed the loose ball. Gordon quickly found Rodney Billups who dropped in the Pioneers second triple within a span of 35 seconds to give the visitors a 61-55 lead with 5:15 left to play.
A Cameron jumper 18-feet in the left wing pulled the Cajuns to 61-57. Gordon then missed a pair of free throws at 4:44 giving Louisiana-Lafayette another opportunity to get even closer.
However, Tiras Wade was short on a mid-range jumper and an offensive rebound by Andrew Carpenter on the other end after he followed his shot on a missed three-pointer set up Billups at the charity stripe for a pair of freebies which he made at 4:05 giving DU a 63-57 edge.
UL Lafayette was still within four points after Mitchell rebounded his own miss to make it 63-59 at 2:29. Nicholson, who made 10-of-13 field goal attempts, came up with the gamebreaker when he tipped in a lob pass from Billups with one second left on the shot clock to push the DU lead back to six points, 65-59.
The Nicholson tip in came after the Cajuns had the Pioneers back into the corner with four seconds left on the shot clock after a block by Hamilton. After the inbounds pass, the Cajuns forced a jump ball and left Denver with just one second to shoot.
Wade was good from 22-feet out at 1:34 to make it 65-62. The Pioneers, who shot 12-of-18 at the free throw line to just 5-of-13 for Louisiana-Lafayette, won the game at the charity stripe down the stretch.
Nicholson led all scorers with 22 points. Billups posted a double-double, scoring 13 points (10 in the second half) and handing out 12 assists.
Wade led a balanced scoring attack for Louisiana-Lafayette with 17 points. Hamilton scored 16, Mitchell had 14 and Cameron added 10.
Louisiana-Lafayette had fewer turnovers than Denver, but the Cajuns committed two critical miscues down the stretch.
The first came with the Cajuns down 63-57 and Wade threw a pass behind Ross Mouton at 3:50. The second was a turnover by Mitchell after Billups stole the ball from him with 46 seconds left and the Cajuns down 66-62. Mitchell's turnover led to a pair of freebies from Billups that stretched the lead to 68-62 with 40 seconds left to play.
Both teams started slow out of the gate turning the ball over three times each before the first media timeout at 15:59.
Denver held a 4-3 lead, but squandered its first possession after the timeout on a turnover by Billups. Mitchell drove the lane but his jumper went off the back of the iron. Mitchell finally got the basket in the net on the putback after the second offensive rebound to give the Cajuns a 5-4 lead.
The Pioneers reeled of eight unanswered points, scoring on three of their next four possessions and continued sluggish play by the Cajuns.
Back-to-back triples, one by Benzel and another from Seger, at 14:39 and 14:06 spotted Denver a 10-5 lead. A turnover by Mitchell on the next possession, the Cajuns fifth in the first six minutes, led to an inside basket by Antonio Porch that made it 12-5 at 12:55.
A turnover by Porch on the Pioneers next possession led to a three-point basket by Wade at 11:50. Wade's bucket added with the Cajuns defense and a pair of near-reach misses by DU led to seven unanswered points by the hosts to tie the game 12-12 with 10:49 remaining before the half.
After a DU timeout at 10:45, the Cajuns defense forced the Pioneers into a shot clock violation then after a missed jumper by Ross Mouton at 9:56 Porch traveled to give the ball back to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Mouton putback his own miss of a scoop shot and the Cajuns regained the lead 14-12 at 8:39. Gordon answered for the Pioneers on the other end taking a lob pass from Billups, made the basket and drew a foul from Adam James. Gordon converted the three-point play and DU led 15-14 at 8:09.
Derek Gray and Andrew Carpenter traded three-point baskets giving the Pioneers an 18-17 lead with 6:55 remaining before the half. Carpenter's triple jumpstarted a 9-0 DU run that gave the Pioneers a 24-17 lead at 5:11.
The Cajuns countered with a 9-0 run of their own capped off by a Ford putback off a Mouton miss giving Louisiana-Lafayette a 26-24 lead 1:55 before halftime.
The Pioneers ended the half with a 7-0 run getting five points in the final seven seconds.
Seger made an inside basket to put Denver up 28-26. The Cajuns advanced the ball up court for the final shot, but Billups snuck up on Mitchell and popped the ball out of his hands with two seconds left. Carpenter collected the steal and quickly flipped the ball back to Billups who heaved a 50-footer than hit the bottom of the net pushing the Pioneers' lead to 31-26 at intermission.
Louisiana-Lafayette fought back from a seven point deficit early in the second half using a 9-2 run to tie the game 39-39 with 14:57 left to play.
The Cajuns couldn't get a lead larger than two points and Nicholson made back-to-back baskets with the Pioneers leading 51-50 pushing the visitors lead to 55-50 with seven minutes left.
Box Score
Denver at Louisiana-Lafayette
01/08/05 7:05 p.m. at Lafayette, La. (Cajundome)
DENVER 72, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 66
DENVER (6-6, 1-0 SBC)
Nicholson, Yemi 10-13 2-4 22; Billups, Rodney 3-5 5-6 13;
Benzel, Erik 3-11 3-4 11; Carpenter, Andrew 4-7 0-0 9;
Porch, Antonio 3-6 0-0 6; Gordon, Terrence 2-2 2-4 6; Seger,
Brett 2-6 0-0 5; Wetrich, Steve 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-50
12-18 72.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (6-7, 0-1 SBC) Wade, Tiras 6-13
1-1 17; Hamilton, Brian 7-10 2-8 16; Mitchell, Dwayne
7-130-0 14; Cameron, Chris 4-10 2-2 10; Ford, Spencer 2-6
0-2 4; Gray, Derek 1-2 0-0 3; Mouton, Ross 1-5 0 0 2; James,
Adam 0-0 0-0 0; Rhodman, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-59
5 13 66.
Denver........................
31 41 - 72
Louisiana-Lafayette........... 26 40 - 66
3-point goals - Denver 6-14 (Billups 2-2; Benzel 2-6; Seger 1-4; Carpenter 1-2), Louisiana-Lafayette 5-17 (Wade 4-6; Gray 1-2; Mitchell 0-1; Cameron 0-4; Ford 0-2; Mouton 0-2). Fouled out - Denver-Porch, Louisiana-Lafayette-None. Rebounds - Denver 30 (Nicholson 6), Louisiana-Lafayette 27 (Mitchell 6; Wade 6). Assists - Denver 21 (Billups 12), Louisiana-Lafayette 13 (Mitchell 7). Total fouls - Denver 13, Louisiana-Lafayette 20. A: 4523
-Ragin' Cajuns-
