University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Florida International
Louisiana Has Near Miss in Exciting Finish
3/4/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The loss ended the season for
The run pulled FIU (13-19) ahead 61-41 with 12:49 remaining in the game. The Golden Panthers then withstood a 28-10 game-ending run by
Courtney Wallace sank a free throw at 4:07 and UL closed the FIU lead to 68-59. FIU went inside to Cedric Essola who made a layup at 3:34 to move the advantage back into double figures.
Daigle gave the Cajuns a chance with a three-point make at 2:46 which made it 70-62. After a defensive stop the Cajuns swung the ball around to Tyren Johnson who hit a three at the top of the key to get UL within five.
Wallace made a move inside and hit a layup as he was fouled with 1:24 left to play. He made the freebie to trim the FIU lead to 70-68.
With 16 seconds the Cajuns had the opportunity to go ahead. Daigle took a three with nine seconds left, but missed and FIU was fouled. Freddy Asprilla made one free throw to make it 71-68.
Daigle was fouled before he attempted a three-pointer with two seconds left. He made the first free throw and missed the second on purpose. FIU nabbed the rebound and ran out the clock.
Johnson led the Cajuns with 15 points. Daigle and Chris Gradnigo each added 12 points.
FIU received a team-high 15 from Asprilla. He grabbed 11 rebounds to collect his 12th double-double of the season.
FIU opened the contest on an 8-2 run in the first 3:17. Johnson made a triple at 16:18 to drop the deficit to 8-5. The Golden Panthers used an 8-0 surge to move their lead into double digits by the 15:01 mark.
The Ragin' Cajuns went inside and eventually lowered the FIU lead to five points. Jeremy Barr made both free throws on a one-and-one opportunity at 9:10 and it was 20-15. FIU rolled off a 12-2 run over the next 2:48 to open a 15-point edge.
UL got two free throws from Travis Bureau at 5:43 and then scored baskets on back-to-back possession. FIU had answers each time which kept the lead between 14 to 17 points. When Nikola Gacesa scored inside at 3:49 the lead was up to 19 at 42-23.
Trailing 43-27, Johnson hit a triple at 1:43 to jumpstart a 7-0 UL run that cut the lead to 43-34 at the break.
UL did lose La'Ryan Gary in injury before halftime. He went down with a lower leg injury at 2:21.
Daigle hit a trey at 19:51 to start the second half and close UL within six points. The Golden Panthers got scores on two straight touches to up the lead to 47-37.
Daigle hit another triple at 17:51 and it was 49-40. FIU brought the lead to 10 with a free throw by Tremayne Russell. Then after a Cajuns missed field goal and turnover, the Golden Panthers scored four points to push the advantage to 54-40.
The Ragin' Cajuns got a free throw from Jeremy Barr at 16:39 making it 54-41. That would be UL's last point until the 12:07 mark. FIU scored seven unanswered to pull ahead by 20 points at 61-41.
