Hot Start Sends Cajuns to Sun Belt Opening Win Over FAU

Box Score

The Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team scored the game's first 14 points and led from wire-to-wire on the way to a 67-55 victory over Florida Atlantic in the 2011-12 Sun Belt Conference opener at the Cajundome on New Year's Eve.

The Owls used a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 45-39 with 12:44 remaining in the contest. J.J. Thomas ended the run with a basket at 12:06 and after Greg Gantt answered to make it a six-point affair again, Darshawn McClellan buried a triple on the left elbow at 11:42 to extend the Cajuns lead to 50-41.

Louisiana (7-8, 1-0 Sun Belt) had an answer for every FAU field goal make to keep the lead at either seven or nine points until a McClellan tap-in with 8:45 left to play gave UL a 56-45 lead.

A Darnell Jackson layup on a fastbreak following a Kadeem Coleby blocked shot was followed by a Coleby kiss off the glass at 7:29 to stretch the advantage to 60-45.

The Owls (4-10, 0-1 Sun Belt) couldn't drop their deficit below double figures until 39 seconds remained. The Cajuns added three free throw makes down the stretch for the final margin.

With the win the Cajuns extended a pair of winning streaks. Louisiana won its fifth consecutive home game, improving to 6-1 at the Cajundome this season. UL also kept alive a Sun Belt Conference win streak which dates back to a Jan. 22 win over La.-Monroe last season. Saturday's win over FAU was the Cajuns' 11^th consecutive SBC victory.

McCellan led a quartet of Cajuns in double figures with a game-high 15 points. Thomas added 12 points and Raymone Andrews and Josh Brown each scored 10.

The Owls were paced by 15 from Gantt and 10 from Kore White.

Louisiana improved to 15-6 all-time in Sun Belt openers with the victory. It's the second time in the past three seasons at UL defeated FAU in the league opener (two teams began 2009-10 SBC slate at the Cajundome and UL won 81-74).

The Ragin' Cajuns travel to the Nashville area next week for the Western Kentucky-Middle Tennessee road swing. Louisiana meets WKU on Thursday in Bowling Green for a 7 p.m., tipoff, then travels to Murfreesboro on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. contest against MT.

The Cajuns stormed out the gate with a 14-0 run in the first three-plus minutes to take control early.

UL scored five points on their first two touches getting an Andrews triple and Brown jumper by the 18:56 mark. The lead reached double figures at 16:43 on a McClellan three-pointer that upped the score to 12-0 and prompted an FAU timeout.

Brown capped off the run with a dunk at 16:22 off an FAU turnover following the timeout.

Louisiana shot 6-of-9 from the floor during the game-opening, scoring spree and held the Owls scoreless until the 15:49 mark.

A three-pointer by Gantt put FAU on the scoreboard and was the first of 10 unanswered by the visitors that cut the UL lead to 14-10 at 14:13.

The Cajuns stretched the advantage to eight points, 21-13, with 10:28 left in the opening half getting a triple from David Perez at 10:55 and Thomas layup. FAU used a 5-of-7 shooting stretch between the 11-minute and seven-minute media timeouts to close the deficit to 25-21.

Andrews converted a three-point play at 7:26 to increase the lead to 28-21 and UL saw the advantage grow to nine points, 33-24, following a Perez basket at 3:05.

The Owls moved within six points at 33-27 after Pablo Bertone converted a three-point play with 2:36 remaining before halftime. The teams would trade free throw makes the rest of the half until a tap-in by Thomas at the buzzer provided UL with a 36-29 lead going into the break.

The teams swapped made field goals in the first minute of the second half. FAU got a stop-and-pop jumper from Gantt in the lane at 18:16 to draw within five points, 38-33.

After Gantt's basket neither team would score for the next two minutes. Thomas ended the scoring drought for the Cajuns with a bucket at 15:48 and it was 40-33.

Taylor missed a pair of three-point attempts for the Owls on the ensuing possession and the Cajuns pushed the ball up the floor where Mbamalu hit a leaner on a blocking foul by Bertone at 15:04. Mbamalu made the freebie to re-open a double figure lead at 43-33.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Hot Start Sends Cajuns to Sun Belt Opening Win Over FAU

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