Sam Houston Sneaks Victory From Cajuns

LAFAYETTE ? Ashton Mitchell drove into the lane in the final five seconds and knocked down a jumper with two seconds remaining to lift Sam Houston State to a 56-54 victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns here Sunday evening in the CAJUNDOME.

It was a dramatic finish to a contest which saw the score tied three times in the final two minutes.

Louisiana (4-6) had claimed a three-point lead when Chris Gradnigo slammed home the basketball with 2:19 remaining to up the Cajuns lead to 50-47. Corey Allmond drew SHSU (5-5) even at the 1:57 mark with his third 3-pointer of the game.

Mitchell moved the Bearkats in front 52-50 and begin a series of trading scores which kept the teams even until Mitchell's winning basket. Just 21 seconds before Mitchell's winner, Ryan McCoy hit an off-balanced layup with 23 seconds on the clock to create a 54-all tie.

Mitchell's heroics came on the ensuing possession and sent Louisiana to its second straight loss in the CAJUNDOME.

McCoy led the Ragin' Cajuns with a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting. He had 14 points in the first half alone. Tryen Johnson (11 points) and Gradnigo (10 points) joined him in double figures.

The Cajuns played the game without leading scorer Travis Bureau who was out with a groin injury suffered earlier in the week against ULM. Bureau is averaging 16.8 points per game.

SHSU was led by the duo of Allmond and Mitchell who each scored 17 points. The Bearkats, who shot 29 percent in the first half (8-of-28), bounced back to shoot 56 percent (10-of-18) in the second stanza.

It was the first meeting between the two schools since Dec. 15, 1993. Sam Houston State ended the Cajuns' five-game win streak in the series and evened the all-time series record to 7-all.

It was a slow start for both teams in the game's first eight minutes. Louisiana was 3-of-8 from the field and SHSU was 2-of-8. The Ragin' Cajuns led 7-5 at the 11-minute media timeout.

The Bearkats drew even with a Preston Brown layup at 11:09. He was fouled by Emmanuel Adeife and made the freebie to give the visitors an 8-7 lead ? one which lasted only 36 seconds.

McCoy pushed the Cajuns in front on the ensuing possession which his second triple of the first stanza.

After the Bearkats trimmed the lead to 14-12, it was Gradnigo burying a triple on the elbow of the right wing to make it 17-12 at 7:41. SHSU received a Mitchell layup and a pair of free throws from Barkley Falkner and the lead was 17-16 with 5:29 remaining in the first half.

Up 20-18, the Cajuns rattled off five unanswered points to extend the lead to the largest it had been in the half.

Mitchell and McCoy traded long-range triples and Louisiana's lead was 28-21 as the block dipped below two minutes. After the teams traded one free throw make, Colby Batiste hit a jumper just before the horn sounded to extend Louisiana's lead to 31-22 at the break.

Playing without Bureau, the leading scorer, who was out with a groin injury, the Cajuns turned to their defense to open the halftime lead. UL held SHSU to 8-of-28 shooting (29 percent).

In a similar start to the first half, it took the teams time to unwind in the second half. The Ragin' Cajuns didn't make a field goal until the 9:48 mark and the Bearkats had only two makes in the first eight-plus minutes.

The first basket came at 18:40 with Allmond scoring for SHSU cutting the deficit to 31-24. Louisiana got on the scoreboard at 17:36 when Gradnigo made a pair of free throws.

Following Gradngio's freebies, four free throws combined between the two teams is all that would be scored through the 14:14 mark and Louisiana led 34-27. Allmond was good on a trey from the left wing and the Cajuns lead was down to 34-30.

Louisiana got a free throw from Corey Bloom at 12:55 and a pair of freebies from La'Ryan Gary at 11:45 to reclaim a seven-point edge (37-30). SHSU moved within one point as Allmond and Mitchell made three-pointers that were one minute apart with Mitchell's trimming the UL lead to 37-36 with 10:33 remaining.

Batiste knocked down an inside basket at 9:48 and Louisiana had its first field goal of the second stanza. A turnover by Antuan Bootle led to McCoy making a jumper and the Cajuns lead was upped to 41-36. SHSU came back with four quick points to pull within one point at the 8:35 mark.

Once again the Cajuns responded to SHSU moving within one point. McCoy connected on a trey in the left corner at 7:32 to give UL a 44-40 edge. Baskets by DeLuis Ramirez at 7:17 and Preston Brown at 6:17 allowed the Bearkats to draw even at 44-all.

The Cajuns regained the lead with a Johnson jumper from the free throw line with 4:58 left to play. The Bearkats later took the lead when DeLuis Ramirez made a free throw at the 3:55 mark.

From there it was back-and-forth until the final horn sounded.

Louisiana takes time off for Christmas as the next game isn't scheduled until Monday, Dec. 29 at Tennessee. The Ragin' Cajuns and Volunteers tipoff at 6:30 p.m. (CST) in Thompson-Boling Arena.

It's the first of two games against SEC competition. After the UT game, Louisiana travels to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to prepare for a New Year's Eve battle with LSU.

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