University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Troy
Mouton Helps Cajuns Forge Past Troy
1/20/2007 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LAFAYETTE - Ross Mouton made five 3-point baskets in the second half helping Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns rally for a 69-62 victory over Troy here Saturday evening in the Cajundome.
During his string of five three pointers made he accounted for 17 straight points for the Ragin' Cajuns (5-15, 3-7 Sun Belt) helping the hosts erase a 40-34 deficit.
It started when he scored inside with 14:18 remaining to cut the Troy lead to 40-36. His first three-pointer came at 12:40 and when his fifth and final three of the evening went through the nets at the 7:44 mark the Ragin' Cajuns had the lead for good 51-48.
The Cajuns then went inside to Valentino Hart for baskets at 6:08 at 5:33 that stretch the lead to 55-48.
The UL lead was still seven points, 60-53, before a Boo Ramsey triple at 3:29 followed by a Cedrick Jackson layup at 2:18 after a Cajuns missed three-pointer narrowed the lead to 60-58.
Two turnovers by the Trojans (8-12, 3-6 Sun Belt) led to four free throws from the Ragin' Cajuns with the last two coming from Rhett Hebert with 53 seconds remaining that stretch the UL lead to 64-58.
Mouton led Louisiana-Lafayette with a game-high 21 points. The senior scored 19 points in the second half and was solely responsible for the 17-8 run that allowed the Cajuns to recover from the 40-34 deficit.
The Trojans received a team-best 19 points from Richard Chaney.
The victory helps the Ragin' Cajuns end a three-game losing streak. Louisiana-Lafayette was able to halt its streak playing without the services of its second-leading scorer, David Dees, who missed the game with a left ankle injury.
The two teams traded 5-0 runs in the first three minutes. The Ragin' Cajuns responded with another 5-0 spurt to open a 10-5 edge.
Hebert answered a three-pointer from Ramsey with one of his own that pushed the Cajuns ahead 8-5 at 16:44. After a Troy miss, Hebert buried a leaner near the free throw line upping the lead to 10-5 at 16:09.
The Cajuns lead grew to seven points at 12-5 when Elijah Millsap hit two free throws at 15:17.
The Cajuns defense continued to force the Trojans into bad shots and the visitors started 2-of-14 from the floor.
Troy would work the lead down to five points at 14-9 after an O'Darien Bassett basket at 13:05. The Cajuns would draw shooting fouls on their next two possessions and got two free throws apiece from Derek Gray and Millsap to increase the advantage to 18-9 by the 12:18 mark.
Neither team could buy a basket over the next four minutes ? each made only one field goal. They swapped baskets and the Trojans closed the deficit to seven points, 20-13, at 9:17 on a jumper by Bassett.
The Cajuns would gain a 22-15 edge on a basket by Gray at 7:14, but the squad would go scoreless through the four minute mark and the Trojans used a 6-0 run capped off by another long-range triple from Ramsey to trim the UL lead to 22-21.
Gray ended the Cajuns scoreless stretch making one of two free throws at 3:35 making it 23-21. Chaney drew a shooting foul on the other end for Troy and hit both freebies to even the score at 23-all with 3:13 on the clock before the half.
Willie Lago returned the lead to UL on the ensuing possession nailing a three-pointer at 2:53 to give the Cajuns a 26-23 lead.
The Trojans then rattled off seven unanswered points to pull in front as the teams left for the locker room.
After Lago's triple, Ramsey drilled a jumper for the Trojans cutting the deficit to 26-25 at 2:29. Adam James committed a turnover and Chaney came up with the steal for the Trojans. His steal led to a dunk of his own at 2:04 that gave Troy a 27-26 lead.
Another Cajuns turnover on the next possession led to three more points for the visitors. An errant pass by Lago bounced out of bounds in the corner of the left wing. The Trojans went back to Chaney who drifted through the lane and hit a basket as he was fouled. He finished off the three-point play with a free throw at 1:20 giving Troy a 30-26 edge.
The Cajuns had the last shot of the half after Ramsey committed a blocking foul with 38 seconds showing. UL setup its offense for a three-pointer from Hebert with two seconds left to trim the deficit to 30-29 at the break.
A three-pointer in the left corner by Jackson scored the first points of the second half and upped Troy's lead to 33-29 at 19:08.
The Cajuns trailed 35-30 and would score twice in the 16-minute mark to close the Trojans lead to one point. It started when Gray hit a leaner in the paint for the Cajuns first field goal make of the second half. After a defensive stop, Millsap tapped home a missed three-pointer by Hebert and the score was 35-34 at 16:22.
The Trojans responded with four points of their own to reopen a five point lead. Bassett knocked down a jumper at 16:09 making it 37-34. The Cajuns tried to get fancy with an alley-oop attempt but it was intercepted by Jackson for Troy. That led to a fastbreak for the Trojans which resulted in an alley-oop from Ramsey to Chaney upping the Troy lead to 39-34 at 15:46.
The Cajuns fell behind 40-34, but wouldn't let the Trojans escape. UL received five points from Mouton ending with a three-pointer in the right corner at the 12:40 mark that closed the deficit to 40-39.
It was Mouton with another three-pointer one minute later that gave UL its first lead of the second stanza 42-40 and extend the team's run to eight points.
UL continued to forge ahead as it was Mouton's third triple of the second half that increased the lead to 45-40 at 10:23. The Trojans broke the Cajuns 11-0 run on the ensuing possession as Sharp scored inside at 10:03.
A pair of offensive fouls by Courtney Wallace turned the ball over to the Trojans on the next two UL touches. Jackson hit one of two free throws at 9:10 trimming the Cajuns lead to 45-43. Following Wallace's second offensive foul the Trojans worked the ball to Jackson who hit a triple at 8:39 that gave Troy a 46-45 lead.
Mouton's hot streak continued as he answered Jackson's three-pointer with his fourth of the second half that put UL up 48-46 at 8:24.
The Trojans answered Mouton's triple 20 seconds later with a bucket from Jackson. Mouton followed with yet another triple this time at the 7:44 mark giving the Cajuns a 51-48 edge.
The Cajuns were able to stretch their lead out to seven points as back-to-back inside baskets from Hart increased the lead to 55-48 by the 5:33 mark. Jackson hit a three-pointer at 5:16 that cut the Cajuns edge to 55-51.
UL continued its great inside work on the ensuing possession as James grabbed an offensive rebound and coverted the putback at 4:44 creating a 57-51 lead.
When Gray hit a free throw at 3:44 the Ragin' Cajuns were clinging to a 60-53 advantage. Ramsey hit a three-pointer on the left wing at 3:29 cutting the Cajuns lead to 60-56.
After a turnover on the inbounds pass and a Cajuns miss the Trojans were able to feed Jackson inside for a layup at 2:18 that made it 60-58.
The Trojans would commit a turnover on the next trip as Jackson couldn't handle a lob pass into the lane. Mouton then drove into the lane and drew a shooting foul.
Mouton would make the first of four consecutive free throws and the Cajuns had extended their lead to 64-58 with 53 seconds showing. The Trojans came down the court and Bassett forced up a shot that he missed. The Cajuns played keep away and eventually found James behind the defense for an easy short-range jumper in the paint that pushed the lead to 66-58 with 32 seconds left.
The Ragin' Cajuns will take to the road for a pair of Sun Belt Conference games next week. UL will meet Florida Atlantic on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 6:00 p.m. (CST) in Boca Raton, Fla., at FAU Arena. Then the Cajuns travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to meet Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7:00 p.m.
