University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
West Alabama (exhibition)
Cajuns Coast to Exhibition Victory
11/11/2009 3:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team used a 17-1 run in the final five minutes of the first half to break open a single-digit lead and cruise to a 90-69 win over West Alabama in an exhibition contest Tuesday evening at the Cajundome.
It all started when Travis Bureau tapped home a missed layup at 5:01 to return the Cajuns' lead to double figures at 34-23. UL scored on its next three touches to extend the lead to 41-23 by 2:40.
UWA received a free throw from Jason Swanson at 2:26 to temporarily interrupt the Cajuns scoring spree. What followed was a basket by Javan Mitchell at 2:12 that made it 43-24 and then three-point makes by Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo on the next two possessions that pushed the lead to 49-24 and capped off the run.
Thanks to a 49-26 halftime lead, the Ragin' Cajuns were able to get several players ample playing time in the second half. All players who dressed out for UL saw playing time.
Top scorer for the Cajuns was Gradnigo with 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting (5-of-6 beyond the arc). Daigle led all players off the bench with 11 points. Twelve different Cajuns scored and seven of them registered at least six points.
UL shot 36-of-60 (60%) as a team, made 11 triples and forced 12 UWA turnovers.
The Tigers were led in scoring by Richard Sirju's 23 points. He was joined in double figures by Jason Swanson (18 points) and Trevell Coleman (14 points).
West Alabama was one night removed from pushing fellow Sun Belt Conference member Troy to overtime.
The Ragin' Cajuns scored the game's first four points. Gradnigo hit a scoop shot in the lane on the first possession and in the 18-minute mark Johnson scored a fastbreak layup after a blocked shot.
Gradnigo scored UL's next five points himself (three-pointer and two free throws) and the lead was 9-4 by the 15:25 mark.
UWA pulled within three points at 14:35 on a basket from Lucas Hall. Randell Daigle entered the game for UL and drained a triple on his first shot attempt that upped the lead to 12-6.
UL stretched the lead to double figures on consecutive possessions inside of 14 minutes. Roberson tapped in a missed layup by Willie Lago at 13:20, then after a defensive stop Courtney Wallace hit a fadeaway jumper at 12:51 making it 16-6.
A pair of field goal makes by Swanson during the nine minute mark allowed the Tigers to cut the deficit to 19-12 by 9:22.
Gradnigo connected on a triple out on the left wing at 8:46 to return the lead to double figures at 22-12. It also began a series of back-and-forth scores between the two teams that lasted through the 6:38 mark. UL scored four times and UWA three times which moved the score to 32-18.
The Tigers used a 5-0 run - getting a Coleman triple at 6:20 and free throws at 5:32 - to draw within single digits at 32-23.
On the ensuing possession, Bureau got the ball rolling on the aforementioned run which allowed the Ragin' Cajuns to put the game out of reach. UL scored on their final nine touches of the opening stanza to push the advantage into 20 points.
The Cajuns shot 19-of-32 (59.4%) which included an 8-of-12 performance from beyond the three-point line in the opening half. Gradnigo scored 21 points and was 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Louisiana will begin the 2009-10 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14 at the Cajundome with Southern Miss providing the opposition. The game is the second half of a doubleheader with the UL women's team and is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m., or 30 minutes following the completion of the women's game.
