HONOLULU, O'ahu ? Louisiana's hopes of advancing to the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic championship game rested on the Ragin' Cajuns last possession. However, a crucial turnover in the game's last 20 seconds resulted in a 74-68 defeat to the Ohio Bobcats late Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Louisiana (3-7) will face the East Tennessee State Bucs (5-6) in the third-place game Saturday at 9 p.m. (CT), while Ohio (8-3) advances to play St. Mary's College in the championship game.
Freshman Chris Gradnigo (Lake Charles, La.) scored a career-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range. Travis Bureau (Gonzales, La.) chipped in a career-high 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Leon Williams paced the Bobcats with a game-high 23 points, including 11-of-13 from the free throw line. Justin Orr added 20 points, while Jerome Tillman chipped in 16.
Trailing by 11 points entering the second half, Louisiana managed to cut the Ohio lead again to single digits thanks to the Cajuns' persistent defense. The Cajuns forced Ohio to take several ill-advised shots, allowing Louisiana to get back to within six, 51-45.
However, the Bobcats would continue to pad their lead back to double digits despite Louisiana's efforts. Louisiana again cut it to six, 59-53, with 8:25 left in the second half on a Gradnigo transition lay-up. Then, Bureau buried a triple from the left wing to cut the Ohio lead to 59-56.
Randell Daigle (Lafayette, La.) brought the Cajuns to within one, 62-61, on his first three-pointer of the contest with six minutes left in regulation. Bureau then tied it at the free throw line, 63-63, with 4:29 left on the clock. After an Ohio bucket, Gradnigo gave the Cajuns' their first lead since early in the first half, 66-65.
Williams later gave Ohio a 70-68 lead after successfully converting a three-point play at the 1:00 mark. A critical turnover by David Dees (Dayton, Ohio) allowed Orr to convert two free throws, icing the game at the charity stripe.
With confidence brimming from Wednesday's win over host Hawai`i, Louisiana jumped out an 8-2 run to start the game with six points coming from the hot hand of Gradnigo.
Ohio opened the contest with a jumper by Williams before Elijah Millsap (Grambling, La.) tied the contest at 2-2 with a jumper from the left wing. Then, Gradnigo hit back-to-back triples to hand Louisiana a six-point cushion.
Ohio followed with four straight baskets as the Bobcats took an 11-8 lead. That quick rally resulted in a 13-2 run by the Bobcats for a 15-10 lead with 13:33 left in the first half.
Louisiana would tie the contest thanks to a Dees three-pointer and a Courtney Wallace (New Orleans, La.) jumper from the top of the key.
The Bobcats took advantage of several Louisiana poor shot selections. Leading 19-15, Ohio hit three key three-pointers in transition to take a commanding nine-point lead, 28-19 with 7:05 left in the first half.
After Ohio added a pair of free throws for an 11-point edge, Louisiana cut the deficit back to single digits, pulling to within six, 30-24. But, Ohio continued to claw back on its ensuing possessions.
Louisiana's inability to stop Ohio on the defensive end continued which led to frustrations on the offensive side of the ball. Ohio went on a 12-4 run to take a 42-28 lead until Bureau ended it with a fade-away trey from the right corner.
Ohio held the Ragin' Cajuns to 39.3 percent on 11-of-28 field goals in the first half, while the Bobcats shot an impressive 59.3 percent on 16-of-27 shooting. Gradnigo led Louisiana with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with three rebounds.
The Bobcats were paced by Orr and Tillman who chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively. Williams added eight points for the Bobcats.
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns return to the hardwood Saturday when they face the East Tennessee State Bucs in the third-place game of the 44th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic at 9 p.m. (CT). Fans can watch the game live on KLFT-TV (Cox Digital 135) following the replay of Friday night's game against Ohio.
OHIO 74
WILLIAMS, Leon 6-8 11-13 23; ORR, Justin 7-10 3-4 20; TILLMAN, Jerome 7-9
2-2 16; WALTHER, Bubba 2-7 2-2 8; WHITTINGTON IV, Bert 2-8 0-0 4; HESTER,
Allen 1-3 0-0 3; WASHINGTON, DeVaughn 0-0 0-0 0; FREEMAN, Tommy 0-0 0-0 0;
VAN KEMPEN, Kenneth 0-2 0-0 0; ALLEN, Michael 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 18-21
74.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 68
Gradnigo, Chris 8-14 1-3 22; Bureau, Travis 3-8 2-2 11; Daigle, Randell 3-11
0-0 7; Wallace, Courtney 2-2 2-2 6; Millsap, Elijah 3-6 0-1 6; Gary, La'Ryan
1-2 3-6 5; Dison, Brandon 1-1 2-2 4; Dees, David 1-2 0-0 3; Lago, Willie 1-1
0-0 3; Johnson, Tyren 0-1 1-2 1; Barksdale, Maurice 0-1 0-0 0; Bloom, Corey
0-0 0-0 0; Milson, Abray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 11-18 68.
Halftime: Ohio 44, UL 33. 3-point goals--Ohio 6-17 (ORR, Justin 3-4; WALTHER, Bubba 2-6; HESTER, Allen 1-2; WHITTINGTON IV, Bert 0-5), Louisiana-Lafayette 11-29 (Gradnigo, Chris 5-9; Bureau, Travis 3-7; Lago, Willie 1-1; Dees, David 1-2; Daigle, Randell 1-7; Johnson, Tyren 0-1; Barksdale, Maurice 0-1; Millsap, Elijah 0-1). A-6075
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