University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
ULM
Cajuns Hit by ULM's Three-Point Showers and Drop Seventh Straight
12/30/2006 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
MONROE- An early barrage of three-pointers staked Louisiana-Monroe to a double digit lead only eight minutes into the game and the hosts held onto the lead in an 88-69 victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team here Saturday evening at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
The Warhawks (9-6, 3-0 Sun Belt) made six triples by the 12:16 mark of the first half and as a result had a quick 26-11 lead and never saw its advantage get any smaller than 11 points the rest of the game.
The Ragin' Cajuns (2-12, 0-4 Sun Belt) made one final push in the second half closing the deficit to 66-51 with 11:04 remaining, but the Warhawks broke free with a 10-2 run that increased the lead to 76-53 with 8:26 left.
The loss was the seventh straight overall for the Ragin' Cajuns who remain winless in Sun Belt Conference play at 0-4 and remain winless on the road (0-7).
Saturday's meeting was the first between the two in-state rivals since the 1990-91 season meeting in the Hawaii Tipoff Tournament. It was the first meeting as Sun Belt foes.
The Ragin' Cajuns were led by 20 points from Ross Mouton. Elijah Millsap tied Mouton for a team-best with eight field goals made and had a new career-high with 17 points. Millsap added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
The Warhawks benefited from a game-high and career-high 32 points from Tony Hooper. Hooper was good on 7-of-10 tries from three-point land.
ULM also saw Lance Brasher (19 points), Jonas Brown (11 points) and Brandon Roberts (10 points) join Hooper in double figures.
The Cajuns had more field goals made than ULM edging the hosts 29-27. The Warhawks took advantage of a 10-of-21 performance from three-point range (Cajuns were 5-of-24) and a 24-of-28 showing at the charity stripe (Cajuns were 6-of-10).
The Ragin' Cajuns got on the scoreboard first when Millsap rebounded his own miss and converted the putback. The Warhawks scored 10 unanswered points to rush out to a 10-2 lead by the 17:13 mark.
ULM got three-pointers from Hooper and Brasher on its first two possessions to get six quick points.
The Cajuns broke the ULM string when Millsap gained control after a scramble and hit an easy layup cutting the deficit to 10-4 at 16:48.
The Warhawks responded with four straight points to open its first double digit lead of the evening at 14-4 with 15:20 remaining.
UL had a mini-run of its own on the next two touches. David Dees hit a three-pointer in the left corner to cut the lead to 14-7. The Cajuns got a quick rebound after a ULM miss and a quick outlet pass found Mouton for a layup that made it 14-9 at 14:48.
The Warhawks' next four makes were all from three-point land that resulted in a 12-2 run which allowed ULM to extend its lead to 26-11 with 12:16 showing on the first half clock.
ULM got two free throws from Hooper following the 11-minute media timeout at 11:49 and the lead grew to 28-11. The Cajuns got two quick scores on their next two touches. Millsap worked his way into the lane for a basket at 11:31 and Dees capitalized on a Warhawks turnover at 11:13 with a slam dunk that closed the deficit to 28-15.
After each team swapped alley-oop dunks in a mad dash track meet during the 10-minute mark the score was 30-17 before ULM scored the next five points to gain their largest lead of the half at 18 points.
Courtney Wallace got a turnaround hook shot in the lane to bounce in at 6:38 and the Cajuns had their first points since a Mouton dunk at 10:32 and the lead was 35-19. When Mouton buried a three-pointer at 5:17 the Cajuns closed the lead to 35-22. Hooper answered Mouton's triple with one of his own at 4:56 from the top of the key and ULM was in front 38-22.
A Millsap stuff off a long defensive rebound near midcourt at 3:58 combined with a Mouton three-pointer 14 seconds later saw the Ragin' Cajuns draw closer at 38-27. ULM broke the Cajuns momentum with another five-point burst capped off by a Brasher three-point play at 3:14 that made it 43-27.
UL went to its transition game and it resulted in baskets from Millsap and Derek Gray at 2:59 and 2:20, respectively, and the visitors had worked the lead down to a manageable deficit at 43-31 after Gray's make.
ULM stretched the lead to 15 points with 40 seconds left in the half getting three points from the free throw line to up the advantage to 46-31. Gray made two free freebies for UL with 30 seconds on the clock before Brasher ended the half with a leaning jumper out on the right wing to push ULM's lead at the break to 48-33.
The Ragin' Cajuns had as many field goal makes as ULM did at the end of the opening stanza with 14, but the Warhawks were out in front thanks to 7-of-14 marksmanship from three-point range.
Like the first half a basket by Millsap started things. He drove baseline and worked past two defenders for a shot off the backboard at 19:26 and the ULM lead was 48-35.
The Warhawks went back to the three-point well on their first possession as Hooper hit a three-pointer on the right wing despite being covered by two UL defenders and the lead was upped to 51-35. A second-chance opportunity for ULM resulted in a putback basket by Nweke at 18:09 and the Warhawks matched their largest lead at 18 points, 53-35.
A steal by Willie Lago prevented ULM from taking the lead to 20 points. He picked off a pass and ran it back for an uncontested layup that trimmed the Warhawks lead to 53-37 at 17:30.
Like many other times in previous moments of the game the Warhawks were quick to grab the momentum back from the Cajuns. At 17:07 Hooper drove down the baseline and hit a layup as he was fouled by Mouton and hit the freebie to complete the three-point play which increased the home team's advantage to 56-37.
The teams traded makes over the next 30 seconds. Mouton hit a quick shot off glass at 17:02 and Payne got a jumper to fall for ULM. Mouton hit two free throws at 15:32 and UL was within 58-41.
After Mouton's makes ULM got four consecutive points to take the lead over 20 points for the first time. Brasher was all alone on the baseline for a backdoor layup which he made to give the Warhawks a 60-41 edge. He missed the free throw on the three-point try, but Hooper would atone on ULM's next touch as he hit two freebies at 14:10 which increased the score to 62-41.
UL would make a push and cut the lead down to 15 points thanks to a 10-4 run which had the ULM lead dwindled down to 66-51 with 11:04 remaining.
The Cajuns would score four points over the next four minutes and ULM rode the hot hand of Hooper once more to stretch the lead back into the 20-point range.
It started with a Hooper triple coming at 10:39 as he was flanked by a couple of Cajuns defenders once again. That basket made the score 69-51 and was answered by the Cajuns with a 17-foot jumper from Mouton at 10:15. Only 10 seconds later did Brown get the points back for the Warhawks to start a string of seven unanswered points that increased the home team's lead to 76-53 with 8:26 remaining.
When Hooper made his second triple of the brief run the ULM lead was returned to 20-plus points at 74-53 with 9:09 left in the game. The lead hovered over 20 points until Mouton hit a three on the left wing inside of four minutes to make the score 81-62. The teams would swap seven points in the final minutes to give the final score of 88-69.
The Ragin' Cajuns will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 4 as Denver visits the Cajundome for a 7:05 p.m., contest.
