University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Oral Roberts
Rally Falls Short at Oral Roberts
11/21/2006 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TULSA, Okla. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team held Oral Roberts to 21 percent shooting in the second half but couldn't come up with a crucial basket late in the game and the Golden Eagles held on for a 54-51 victory here Tuesday evening at the Mabee Center.
The Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) held ORU to 34.6 percent shooting for the contest and had more field goals made (19-18) than the Golden Eagles.
In the end ORU (2-1) would use a 17-6 advantage at the free throw line to hold off the Ragin' Cajuns.
The Golden Eagles first seven points of the second stanza came at the charity stripe preventing the Cajuns from taking control of the game after the defense held the Golden Eagles without a field goal made through the first eight minutes of the second half.
The Cajuns had a chance to go ahead in the final minutes of the contest but just couldn't get the shots to fall.
A three-pointer by David Dees with 5:12 remaining cut the ORU lead to 48-47. The Cajuns missed six of their final seven attempts and were never able to overtake the Golden Eagles in the final minutes,
A free throw by Caleb Green with 2:51 remaining upped the Golden Eagles' lead to 49-47. The Cajuns attempt to answer on the other end was thwarted when Yemi Ogunoye blocked a shot attempt from Ross Mouton.
After the block Adam Liberty sliced through traffic in the left wing and hit a leaning jumper that banked in off the backboard pushing the ORU lead to 51-47.
UL would cut the lead down to one point with 54 seconds remaining when Dees hit a driving layup that made it 52-51.
After an ORU timeout, Ken Tutt made the Golden Eagles' fifth and final field goal of the second half when he hit a jumper with 32 seconds left that moved the ORU advantage to 54-51.
The Cajuns had one more shot at pulling even on the next possession, but Willie Lago's three-point attempt fell short and Ogunoye grabbed the rebound.
Dees led the Ragin' Cajuns with 18 points. Mouton added 16 points and led the Cajuns three-point attack with four triples.
Green and Tutt combined to power ORU to the victory. Green led the Golden Eagles with 21 points and Tutt had 15 ? the duo scoring 36 of ORU's 54 points.
The Cajuns defense did an excellent job marking the Golden Eagles behind the arc. UL held ORU to 1-of-17 shooting from three-point range (6 percent).
The Cajuns defense pitched a shutout through the first media timeout to start the second half and as a result UL scored six points to tie the game.
UL tied the game at 17:16 when Courtney Wallace made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 34-34.
The Golden Eagles broke the tie with two Green freebies at 15:37 ? free throws were the only method of scoring for ORU until a key offensive putback after a missed free throw at 11:57.
Abray Milson grabbed a loose ball on a missed shot and converted the putback attempt at 15:18 to tie the game 36-36. On the ensuing possession a steal by Mouton would lead to a fastbreak layup for Lago which gave UL its first lead of the night 38-36 with 14:56 remaining.
ORU would score four more points on free throws to go in front 40-38. Mouton gave the Cajuns their second lead of the game at 12:19 when he hit a three-pointer in the right corner.
Vealy was at the charity stripe for ORU following the second media timeout of the half. He made the first attempt to even the score at 41-all. His second attempt was off the mark, but Moses Ehambe was there for the putback basket that gave the Golden Eagles a 43-41 lead ? a lead the home team would not surrender the rest of the game.
ORU forced a turnover on the next possession and worked the give-and-go on the fastbreak to push the lead to 45-41 at 11:25.
Mouton broke the Cajuns scoreless drought with a three-pointer at 8:24 that closed the deficit to 46-44.
Only two more baskets would be made by the two teams combined until 1:59 remained in the contest. Dees made a three point basket at 5:12 trimming the ORU lead to 48-47.
The Cajuns had a chance to reclaim the lead as the clock dipped under four minutes. Dees would not draw iron on a three-point attempt resulting in a shot-clock violation.
The Golden Eagles raced to a quick 9-0 lead after forcing three straight turnovers on the Cajuns second, third and fourth possessions.
The lead grew to 11-0 at 17:34 after Tutt stole the ball from Alphonso Williams near midcourt and scored a layup on the other end.
The Cajuns defense made three consecutive stops of their own and scored on the three ensuing possessions trimming the ORU lead to 11-6 at the 16:16 mark.
ORU stretched its lead back into double digits after the first media timeout.
Green connected on two freebies at 15:34 upping the lead to 13-6 and the Golden Eagles defense forced a stop
Adam Liberty would then find Green inside who made his field goal attempt as he was fouled. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play and push the ORU lead to 16-6 at 14:57.
Williams hit a triple in the left corner at 14:26 to help the Cajuns slice the lead back into single digits at 16-9. ORU responded with a 6-0 run getting baskets from Tutt, Green and Marchello Vealy.
Wallace scored inside at 10:26 and after Ehambe misfired on a three-point attempt Dees buried a leaner in the lane at 9:48 cutting the Cajuns deficit to 22-13.
The lead hovered between nine and 11 points before the Cajuns made a move which kept the ORU lead in single digits the remainder of the half.
Mouton hit two three-pointers and Dees had a field goal between 7:45 and 6:21 and UL shrunk the deficit to 26-23 capping off an 8-0 UL run.
A triple by Dees at 4:42 got the Cajuns within two points, 28-26 ? the closest the visitors had been in the first half. However, the only other points that UL would get in the final 4:42 would come on two free throws by Dees.
Dees' freebies at 2:25 would create a two point game once more at 30-28. The Golden Eagles countered with two free throws from Green at 1:53 and Vealy scored a second-chance basket after an offensive rebound with 40 seconds left to send the two teams into the locker room with ORU leading 34-28.
Louisiana-Lafayette returns home and opens a four-game homestand on Friday, Nov. 24 hosting Cal State Fullerton at 7:05 p.m., in the Cajundome.
