Jaguars Rally in Second Half to Snap Cajuns Home Win Streak

Box Score

South Alabama overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to claim a 70-65 victory over the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team Thursday evening at the Cajundome, bringing an end to Louisiana's five-game home winning streak.

The Jaguars (9-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) held the Cajuns (8-10, 2-2 Sun Belt) below 30 percent shooting throughout the second half and outscored the hosts 40-27 in the second stanza to erase a 38-30 halftime deficit.

USA came out the locker room and scored seven of the first eight points of the second stanza to lower the Cajuns lead to 39-37 with 18:18 remaining.

J.J. Thomas converted a putback on a third attempt by the Cajuns at 16:56 and made the free throw to complete a three-point play which provided a five-point cushion, 42-37.

The Jaguars defense held the Cajuns to 23 percent shooting through the 11-minute media timeout and as a result was able to forge a 50-all tie following a triple by Dallas Jones with 10:54 left to play.

USA grabbed its first lead since 14:58 of the first half when Antione Lundy spun into the lane and banked a shot off the backboard for a 54-52 edge at 9:05. A lane violation kept Raymone Andrews from tying the score with free throws at 8:59, and then Wendell Wright converted a layup for a 56-53 Jaguars advantage.

Andrews would hit both free throws with 2:46 remaining to cut the Cajuns deficit to 64-61. USA took advantage of an offensive rebound and Cajuns turnover over the next two minutes to add four more free throws which extended the lead to 68-61.

Down 69-63, Alan-Michael Thompson missed a three-point attempt with 13 seconds remaining and the Jaguars grabbed the defensive rebound and sank one more free throw.

Four Cajuns scored double figures led by 13 points from Josh Brown. Kadeem Coleby and Thomas added 12 apiece.

The Jaguars were paced by a game-high 18 points from Trey Anderson. USA shot above 40 percent each half and out-rebounded the Cajuns 43-35.

The loss was the first for the Cajuns at the Cajundome since falling 69-63 to Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 19.

The contest marked the inaugural broadcast of UL basketball on the Ragin' Cajuns Network. Cox4 will show a replay of the contest at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 pm. on Friday and CST will air the replay at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

UL returns to action on Saturday hosting FIU at Cajundome. Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m., and is the second half of a doubleheader with the Cajuns women.

Both teams came out firing on offense as a combined 22 points were registered through the first media timeout.

The Jaguars grabbed the early lead with a six-point spurt that opened a 10-6 lead at 16:43. Consecutive baskets by Anderson broke a 6-all tie.

A Coleby jumper at 15:53 drew the Cajuns within two points, 12-10, then after the media timeout Thomas single-handedly returned the lead to Louisiana.

Thomas made the front-end of a two-shot foul, but missed the second and it was 12-11. Kentwan Smith grabbed the offensive rebound and swung the ball to Thomas who buried a triple at 14:53 for a 14-12 lead. Thomas extended the UL lead to 17-12 with a three-point make on the next possession.

USA received a second-chance layup from DeAndre Hersey and basket by Mychal Ammons to trim the Cajuns lead to 17-16. Andrews rolled home a triple at 13:01 for a 20-16 edge and the teams swapped baskets through the 11-minue media timeout with UL clinging to a 22-20 advantage.

After an Elfrid Payton freebie at 10:54 increased the lead to 23-20, the Cajuns cashed in on a Darnell Jackson steal which led to an alley-oop dunk by Brown as he was fouled by Freddie Goldstein. Brown completed the three-point play for a 26-20 lead.

Sloppy play ensued with two UL turnovers and a USA turnover and pair of missed shots. Coleby upped the UL lead to 28-20 at 8:53 with an inside basket off an inbounds pass.

The Jaguars used a 6-1 run to lower their deficit to 29-26 just inside of six minutes. The Cajuns countered with a 7-0 run capped off by a David Perez triple at 3:03 to stretch the lead to 36-26.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Jaguars Rally in Second Half to Snap Cajuns Home Win Streak

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