University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
McNeese State
Cowboys Sneak Past Cajuns in Final Three Minutes
12/23/2006 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LAKE CHARLES - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team went scoreless over the final 3:27 of Saturday's game with McNeese State and suffered a 68-63 loss to the Cowboys here at the Lake Charles Civic Center.
David Dees hit two free throws at the 3:27 mark to increase the Louisiana-Lafayette lead to 63-58. That would be the final points of the contest for the Ragin' Cajuns (2-10) who dropped their fifth straight game overall and remained winless on the road this season.
The Cajuns went scoreless over the next two minutes and the Cowboys (5-7) chipped away at the lead at the free throw line getting four makes to trim the UL lead to 63-62 at 1:52 left in the game.
The Cajuns were guilty of a traveling violation at the 1:20 mark. McNeese had a shot blocked and then missed a shot attempt on the ensuing possession. On the third chance Quinten Gonzales hit a jumper in the right wing with 45 seconds remaining to put McNeese in front 64-63.
The Cajuns had an opportunity to regain the lead after Ross Mouton was fouled 10 seconds later. He missed the front-end of the one-and-one opportunity and the Cowboys grabbed the rebound. The Cajuns fouled Rorey Lawrence with 23 seconds left and he hit two more free throws to increase the Cowboys lead to 66-63.
UL called a timeout to work up a play to draw even. Rhett Hebert's three-point attempt came on a good look at the basket but was too strong and the Cowboys pulled down the rebound and finished off the game at the free throw line.
The Cajuns got a game-high 22 points from Mouton who hit 8-of-14 attempts including a 4-of-6 performance from three-point range. David Dees and Elijah Millsap each added nine points for UL.
UL shot 47.8 percent in both halves (11-of-23) and made five 3-point baskets in the second half to rally from a 34-29 deficit and take the lead before succumbing in the final three minutes.
McNeese received a team-high 17 points from Jarvis Bradley and John Ford. Troy Aaron joined them in double figures with 12 points.
The Cajuns committed 22 turnovers which led to 18 points for the Cowboys.
The loss snapped the Cajuns three-game winning streak in the series and was the first loss to McNeese in the Robert Lee era. McNeese picked up its first win over UL since the 2002-03 season when the Cowboys won 76-74 at Burton Coliseum on Nov. 27, 2002.
The Cajuns got a steal on the Cowboys first possession and Millsap grabbed the loose ball and drove in for a layup and a quick 2-0 lead.
UL picked off another McNeese pass on the next possession, but Mouton lost control of the ball attempting to feed the ball inside and the Cowboys regained possession. On the home team's third trip down the floor Ford worked inside for a layup that evened the score at 2-all at 18:59.
The score remained tied for over a minute until Bradley fought for possession of the basketball in the right wing and gathered himself for a shot off the backboard to put the Cowboys on top 4-2 at 17:49.
Both teams swapped turnovers on the next two trips before the 17 minute mark expired. Dees banked home a shot high off the backboard to create a 4-4 tie at 16:53.
John Pichon drove baseline for an inside basket at 15:23 and the Cowboys took the lead for the remainder of the half at 10-8. On the next trip Kleon Penn swatted a field goal attempt by Mouton and McNeese found Aaron open for a three-pointer that pushed the MSU lead to 13-8 with 15:05 left in the first half.
After the first media timeout the first McNeese touch saw another triple from Aaron which helped the Cowboys up the lead to eight points at 16-8 at the 14:10 mark.
The Cajuns defense kept MSU without a field goal until the 7:51 mark and were able to chip away at the home team's lead.
UL crept within two points getting baskets from Adam James and Hebert at 8:52 and 8:08. Those baskets helped the Cajuns cut the McNeese lead to 19-17.
McNeese was able to hold onto the lead as Bradley followed his own shot after a block by James and hit a basket in the lane to make it 21-17 with 7:51 on the clock.
A free throw from Dees at 6:01 cut the MSU lead to 21-18. The UL defense got a stop on the ensuing possession and found Mouton on a fastbreak for a layup at 5:36 that closed the gap to one point at 21-20.
MSU found a quick answer to the Cajuns rally when Gonzales worked his way for an inside basket at 5:23 to make it 23-20. Gonzales scored the Cowboys next basket at 4:08 and the lead grew to five points at 25-20.
The Ragin' Cajuns pulled within four points at 1:44 when Mouton hit a running hook shot to make it 31-27.
UL seemed to catch a break on the ensuing possession when Gonzales missed both free throws of a two-shot foul. A turnover by the Cajuns put the ball back in the hands of the Cowboys and Ford faked a give-and-go pass and raced in for the layup which increased the lead to 33-27.
UL turned it over again on the next possession and Ford hit a free throw with 41 seconds left in the half to give MSU a 34-27 edge. The Cajuns got two points closer just before the break when Mouton drove in for a basket and drew a foul giving him two free throw shots. He hit both freebies and the Cajuns were down 34-29 at the half.
The Ragin' Cajuns scored on their first three possessions to start the second half. On the third touch a three-pointer by Mouton saw the Cajuns trim the McNeese lead to 39-36 with 18:06 remaining in the game.
The Cowboys called a timeout and would turn the ball back over to the Cajuns after the break as an inside pass for Penn was out of his reach. The Cajuns couldn't capitalize, but the defense held the Cowboys off the board just before the 17 minute mark.
Mouton drove into the right wing for a jump shot which he hit at 16:56 that cut the lead to 39-38. The Cajuns would gain the lead nearly one minute later when Millsap stole a lob pass on an inbounds play and ran all the way to the Cajuns end of the court for a slam dunk that put UL in front 40-39 at 15:59.
The Cajuns had a chance to stretch the lead to three points as the defense forced another MSU turnover. Dees missed the layup and the Cowboys controlled the rebound. Bradley hit two free throws at 15:02 after drawing a foul before the media timeout. The charities gave the Cowboys a 41-40 advantage.
Mouton's second three-pointer of the second half came with 14:09 on the scoreboard and put the Cajuns back in front 43-41.
MSU answered back as Bradley drew a shooting foul 11 seconds later and made one free throw cutting the UL lead to 43-42. On the inbounds pass, Mouton lost control near the McNeese bench handing the ball back over to the Cowboys. Aaron hit a jumper in the right wing to swap the lead back over to McNeese at 13:43.
James and Hebert each made one free throw on two shot fouls at 13:10 and 12:10 respectively and the lead changed hands once more with the Cajuns reclaiming the edge 45-44.
The Cajuns defense continued to shut out the Cowboys and three-pointers from Derek Gray and Hebert in the 10-minute mark stretch the Cajuns lead to 51-44 with 10:12 remaining.
The Cowboys got a second chance opportunity following a timeout and Ford snap the Cowboys scoring drought with a three-pointer over two defenders at 9:29 making it 51-47 in favor of the Cajuns.
The teams swapped made baskets over the next minute and the Cajuns lead returned to six points at 55-49 when James followed an Hebert miss at 8:29 with a reverse layup. The Cowboys worked the ball to Pichon in the left corner for a triple at 8:13 that cut the Cajuns lead to 55-52.
With the lead at three points and the shot clock winding down on the ensuing possession for the Cajuns Dees worked his way near the top of the key for a basket that upped the UL lead to 57-52 at 7:25.
Coming out of the seven-minute media timeout the Cowboys closed within three points on two free throws from Ford.
The teams swapped turnovers in the six-minute mark. Later Mouton was running in for a dunk off another MSU miscue when his shot was blocked from behind. The Cowboys missed a chance to tie when a three-point attempt was off the mark, but on the scramble for the loose ball three MSU players were left wide open under the basket and Pichon did the honors with an uncontested dunk that cut the Cajuns lead to 57-56 with 5:53 on the clock.
Lago was fouled on a three-point attempt at 5:13. He would make only one free throw attempt and the lead was 58-56. On the Cajuns next trip down the floor Mouton atoned for Lago's misses when he hit a three-pointer in the left corner at 4:31 to increase the UL lead to 61-56.
Louisiana's Ragin' Ragin' Cajuns return to Sun Belt Conference action on Thursday, Dec. 28 hosting UALR at the Cajundome starting at 7:05 p.m. The game with the Trojans marks the first of 12 straight Sun Belt games for the Cajuns before their final non-conference tilt at Charlotte on Feb. 13, 2007.
