University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Mexico State
UL Battles Back, Twice, Falls To Aggies
12/22/2010 4:10:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team erased two double-digit leads but in the end it was not enough as New Mexico State was able to grab an 82-76 win at the Pan America Center in Las Cruces, N.M. on Tuesday night.
The Cajuns battled back from as much as 11 in the first half and came back from 10 in the second, holding a slight edge with less than five minutes of game. But UL failed to make a field goal in the final 4:51, netting all their points from the free-throw line.
The Cajuns fall to 2-9 with the loss while the Aggies claim their fourth in a row to move to 6-7 on the season.
The Cajuns found themselves down 5-16 early in the contest. But a quick 5-0 run brought UL back by the next media timeout. The Cajuns were hindered early in the game by poor performance from the floor, hitting just four of their first 15 attempts in the first eight-and-a-half minutes.
The Aggies, however, were hitting 58.8 percent of their shots (10-17) to build a 26-17 lead by the 7:51 mark.
UL continued to chip away and came to within four points on a pair of free throws from Josh Brown, 28-32, with 4:04 left in the half. A three-point play from Travis Bureau followed by a tip-in from Bryant Mbamalu gave the Cajuns their first lead since the opening basket, 33-32, with 2:43 left in the half.
The teams traded baskets before the Aggies hit a lay-up as time expired to take a 36-35 lead into the break.
A strong rebounding effort in the first half by the Cajuns and a stronger shooting effort allowed UL to fight their way back into the game. UL won the battle of the boards, 25-13, and finished the first half shooting 41.4 percent (12-29) after starting off sluggish.
New Mexico State started hot the second half, quickly rattling off a 9-0 run in the first two minutes. But the Cajuns responded with a 18-4 run of their own to take a 53-49 lead at the 12:04 mark.
UL held the slight advantage, leading by as much as four points, until fouls put the Aggies on the line and allowed them to work their way back into the game. By the 7:48 mark, NMSU had reclaimed the lead 62-61 on a pair of free throws.
The Cajuns had their chance form the free throw line and answered to retake the lead 70-67 with 4:32 left in the game on a pair from Scottie Farrington.
But UL failed to hit a field goal over the next three minutes and saw their lead turn into a deficit, 74-76, with just over one minute remaining.
After a pair of free throws from the Aggies, Courtney Wallace knocked down two of his own to pull to within two, 76-78, with just 46.8 seconds remaining.
Mbamalu led the Cajuns with a career-high 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Wallace and Josh Brown both posted 10 points each.
J.J. Thomas pulled down a team-high nine rebounds as the Cajuns won the battle of the boards handedly, 48-23. Of the 48 rebounds, 23 came on the offensive glass.
As a team, UL shot 43.3 percent (26-60) while the Aggies knocked down 49.1 percent (28-57) from the floor.
The Cajuns will now have a few days off for the holidays before returning to open conference play on the road at Denver on Dec. 30. Two days later, UL will ring in the New Year at North Texas on Jan. 1
