UL Has Near Miss in Back-and-Forth Matchup With USF

Box Score

Kadeem Coleby's attempt at a tap-in basket off an inbounds pass with 00.1 seconds remaining bounced off the rim allowing the University of San Francisco to escape with a 71-70 win over the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team in the final game of the Hilltop Challenge Sunday afternoon at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco.

It was a breath-taking near miss for the Cajuns (1-2) who experienced 12 lead changes in the second half.

After a USF turnover inside of 50 seconds led to a pair of free throw makes by freshman Elfrid Payton with 43 seconds remaining that gave UL a 70-69 edge, it appeared the final lead change of the game had occurred.

However, the Dons (2-1) received a layup through traffic from Cody Doolin to go ahead 71-70 with 19 seconds remaining.

Louisiana had the last shot and the first attempt was a miss by Darshawn McClellan. USF was the last to touch the ball before landing out-of-bounds, leading to the last-second attempt by Coleby.

The Ragin' Cajuns ended the Hilltop Challenge with a 1-2 mark and a third place finish. The squad returns home next weekend for the Beryl Shipley Classic presented by Budweiser Nov. 18-20 at the Cajundome.

J.J. Thomas led all Cajuns with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Payton reached double figures scoring for the second straight game tallying 14. Alan-Michael Thompson contributed 11 points and led UL with three 3-point field goal makes.

USF was led by a game-high 18 points from Angelo Caloiaro. Doolin added 15 points, including the decisive tally with 19 seconds left to play, while Michael Williams scored 11 off the bench.

The Dons opened the contest 5-of-6 from the field, scoring 10 points in the paint to open a 12-5 lead by the 16:41 mark. The Cajuns defense tightened up and limited the Dons to 1-of-8 shooting over the next five minutes allowing the squad to even the score.

Darnell Jackson began a 9-2 run that forged the tie with a triple in the left corner at 16:17 dropping the deficit to 12-8. A Josh Brown fastbreak layup at 12:43, Payton layup at 11:55 and Thomas jumper at the top of the key at 11:28 pulled UL into a 14-all tie.

USF came out the 11-minute media timeout with a 6-0 run to re-establish the lead, pulling ahead 20-14 by 8:46.

A three-point play by Bryant Mbamalu at the 7:57 mark lowered the Cajuns deficit to 22-20. A Cole Dickerson three-point play on the other end stretched the USF lead to 25-20.

The Dons lead grew to double figures off the hands of Doolin who buried a triple at 5:32 and scored a layup off a Cajuns turnover to push the advantage to 32-22.

Thompson's first three-point make of the contest came at 2:36 and opened a 7-1 run by the Cajuns to end the first half which lowered the Dons' lead to 36-31.

Strong play by the Cajuns bench allowed the team to be within five points at the break despite shooting 33 percent (12-of-36). Louisiana held a 18-12 advantage in bench points at halftime.

UL used a 9-2 run at the onset of the second half capped off by a pair of Thomas freebies at 15:45 that provided a 40-38 lead. After USF countered with a Williams jumper at 15:27 to even the score, Thompson connected on a triple at 15:08 to give the Cajuns a 43-40 lead.

The lead swapped hands five times from the 12:36 mark through 8:05 mark beginning when a Dickerson triple put the Dons in front 47-45.

UL went ahead 53-52 on a Thompson jumper in the lane at 8:28, but a Williams three-pointer at 8:05 gave USF a 55-53 edge. After an inside basket by McClellan knotted the score at 55-all, the Dons reclaimed the lead with a Caloiaro three-pointer wit 7:40 remaining.

A pair of Brown layups, the second one coming with 4:35 remaining, vaulted UL into a 64-63 lead. The Dons answered back with a pair of Williams free throws at 4:20 to take a 65-64 lead.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

UL Has Near Miss in Back-and-Forth Matchup With USF

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