Cajuns Use First Half Rally to Take Control and Top McNeese

Box Score

In the final seven minutes of the first half the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team outscored McNeese State 20-7 to claim the lead for good, then led by seven points or more the entire second half on the way to a 78-56 victory Thursday evening at the Cajundome.

Dontae Cannon scored a basket for McNeese State with 11:31 remaining to lower the Cajuns lead into single digits at 53-44. The score remained the same until Darshawn McClellan buried a jumper from the top of the key with 9:44 left to play to return the Cajuns lead back to double figures.

The Cajuns (4-5) followed back-to-back McNeese State missed field goals with a Scottie Farrington jumper at 9:18 and Bryant Mbamalu 3-pointer at 8:43 to extend the lead to 60-45.Louisiana's lead over the Cowboys (3-4) remained comfortably in double digits the rest of the way.

The Cajuns would later use a 9-2 run to open a 70-51 lead with 3:51 remaining and put the game out of reach.

The Ragin' Cajuns shot above 50 percent in each half and finished the game at 57 percent (28-of-49). Seven different players made at least three field goals.

UL's defense limited McNeese below 40 percent shooting each half and held the Cowboys to 35 percent for the contest (20-of-56). The Cajuns improved to 4-0 this season when holding the opposition below 40 percent shooting.

Kadeem Coleby registered double figures points for the sixth straight game, leading Louisiana with 15 points. Freshman Elfrid Payton joined him in double figures with 12 points. McClellan was the leading rebounder finishing with a game-high nine.

McNeese was paced by a game-high 18 points from Jeremie Mitchell. Patrick Richard (14) and Cannon (11) joined him in double figures.

With the win, UL snapped a two-game losing streak to McNeese State and improved to 10-1 at the Cajundome against their Interstate 10 rival.

Louisiana also snapped a two-game season losing streak with the victory and moved within one game of the .500 mark. The Cajuns return to action and seek to reach the .500 mark on Saturday in Beaumont, Texas, at the Montange Center against Lamar. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m.

The Cajuns erased an early 7-3 Cowboys lead, getting a three-point play from Coleby at 17:13 and a pair of free throws from Payton at 16:01 to grab an 8-7 lead.

The two teams swapped baskets with UL receiving a make from Mbamalu at 13:52 for a 10-9 advantage.

McNeese reclaimed the lead with a Cannon basket at 12:59. That was the start of a 10-0 Cowboys run which staked the visitors to a 19-10 by the 11:14 mark. On three straight possessions, MSU received a triple from Richard, then jumper and three-point make from Mitchell.

Louisiana pulled within four points with 7:59 remaining in the opening stanza following a pair of freebies from Payton that cut the deficit to 22-18.

Trailing 26-20 with seven minutes on the clock, the Cajuns put together a 13-0 run that carried the squad into the lead for the remainder of the half.

Alan-Michael Thompson drove baseline for a layup at the 4:34 mark to give UL a 27-26 lead heading into the three-minute media timeout. UL closed out the half shooting 5-of-6 which extended the lead to 40-33 by halftime.

A half-court buzzer beater by Raymone Andrews capped off the Cajuns furious march toward the halftime lead.

The Cajuns stormed out of the locker room with layups from McClellan and Josh Brown on their first two possessions to extend the lead into double figures, 44-33.

MSU closed within seven points, 47-40, after a three-point basket by Mitchell at 15:12. The combination of Coleby and McClellan who fed one another for inside baskets on consecutive possessions increased the UL lead to 51-40 with 14:08 remaining.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Use First Half Rally to Take Control and Top McNeese

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