UALR Snaps Cajuns' Win Streak, 74-63

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ? Louisiana squandered an 11-point first-half lead, while UALR forced 21 turnovers as the Trojans snapped the Ragin' Cajuns four-game winning streak, 74-63, Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.

Thursday's night defeat was the first Sun Belt Conference blemish for Louisiana (7-8, 4-1 Sun Belt) this season; however, the Cajuns still lead the West Division by one-half game ahead of UALR (11-4, 3-1 Sun Belt).

UALR's Steven Moore led all scorers with 22 points, while three other Trojans posted double figures. The Trojans shot 44.4 percent in both the first and second halves on 12-of-27 shooting.

Sophomore La'Ryan Gary (Lafayette, La.) and freshman Chris Gradnigo (Lake Charles, La.) each scored a team-high 11 points with Gary leading the team with six rebounds. Sophomore guard Randell Daigle (Lafayette, La.) committed a career- and team-high seven turnovers in the loss despite chipping in eight points in 24 minutes.

After a 13-0 run to close the first half, UALR scored the first five points of the second half to hold a 38-31 lead. However, the Cajuns, facing their largest deficit of the game, slowly chipped away at the UALR lead. But, a 9-2 Cajuns run tied the game at 40 all with just under 15:00 on the clock.

UALR responded with an 8-1 run to regain a seven-point advantage, 48-41.

Trailing 54-46, the Cajuns hit back-to-back shots on a Tyren Johnson (Edgard, La.) jumper along the baseline and a David Dees (Dayton, Ohio) three to cut the UALR lead to 54-51 at the 7:19 mark.

Louisiana wouldn't get any closer than one, 57-56, with 5:16 remaining in the game, but the Trojans closed out the contest on a 17-7 run to snap the Cajuns' win streak.

Louisiana came into the game firing on all cylinders as the streaking Cajuns silenced the Stephens Center crowd early with a 12-4 cushion. However, the Trojans responded with a 7-0 run to cut the UL lead to one, 12-11.

On the Cajuns' ensuing possession, Johnson drained a 10-foot jumper along the baseline. Abray Milson (Lafayette, La.) then added a lay-in following a missed Dees three-point try for a 16-11 lead.

Clinging to a 16-14 edge, Daigle drilled a transition triple to give the Cajuns a 19-14 lead before De'Andre Eggins chipped in back-to-back field goals to cut it to 19-18. Daigle's triple extended his streak to 13 straight games with at least one made three-point field goal.

Louisiana responded with a 12-2 streak to take its largest lead of the game, 31-20, with 3:48 remaining in the first half. Gradnigo and Gary each hit a pair of jumpers during the run, including Gary's first triple of the season.

UALR, however, dashed the Cajuns' hopes of a large halftime lead as the Trojans closed the first stanza with a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 33-31.

One of the major keys to UALR's half-ending rally was forcing 13 first-half Louisiana turnovers.

Louisiana shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the first half, converting 13-of-24 shots, while connecting on 3-of-7 from three-point range. UALR made one less field goal in the first half as the Trojans shot 44.4 percent as a team.

Four Cajuns scored at least five points in the first half. Gradnigo, Gary and Milson each chipped in a team-high six points, while Elijah Millsap (Grambling, La.) added five. Milson pulled down a team-high four rebounds and Johnson blocked three shots. Moore led all scorers with eight points in the first half. Mike Smith, Eggins and Terrance Akins added seven, seven and six points, respectively.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns return to action Saturday when they travel to Denton, Texas, to face the North Texas Mean Green. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at The Super Pit.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 63

Gradnigo, Chris 5-10 1-2 11; Gary, La'Ryan 4-4 2-4 11; Millsap, Elijah 4-10

0-0 10; Daigle, Randell 3-6 0-0 8; Johnson, Tyren 2-4 2-2 6; Dees, David 1-3

3-6 6; Milson, Abray 3-5 0-0 6; Lago, Willie 1-2 2-2 4; Barksdale, Maurice

0-1 1-2 1; Wallace, Courtney 0-3 0-0 0; Bureau, Travis 0-2 0-0 0; Bloom,

Corey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 11-18 63.

UALR 74

Moore, Steven 6-8 8-10 22; Bails, Derrick 4-10 4-6 12; Smith, Mike 4-7 3-4

11; Akins, Terrance 3-7 3-3 10; Eggins, De'Andre 4-10 0-0 8; Malone,

Lekheythan 1-5 2-2 4; Edwards, Shane 1-2 1-1 3; Moss, Rashad 1-1 0-0 2;

Fowler, John 0-3 2-4 2; Jackson, LaMarvon 0-0 0-0 0; Stewart, Kelson 0-1 0-0

0. Totals 24-54 23-30 74.

Halftime: UALR 33, UL 31. 3-point goals--Louisiana-Lafayette 6-19 (Millsap, Elijah 2-6; Daigle, Randell 2-5; Gary, La'Ryan 1-1; Dees, David 1-3; Bureau, Travis 0-2; Lago, Willie 0-1; Gradnigo, Chris 0-1), UALR 3-13 (Moore, Steven 2-3; Akins, Terrance 1-4; Eggins, De'Andre 0-2; Malone, Lekheythan 0-1; Edwards, Shane 0-1; Fowler, John 0-1; Stewart, Kelson 0-1). A-3934

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