Cajuns Fall in Back-and-Forth Battle With Mean Green

Contact: Matt Hebert

Box Score

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 65-62 decision to North Texas in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament when Brandan Walton connected on a trey with eight seconds remaining to give the Mean Green the victory.

Walton's game-winning play was the 20^th and final lead change in a contest that saw neither team lead by more than five points, and the score was tied 15 times.

From the 6:32 mark through 2:08 mark of the second half the lead swapped hands seven times. Darshawn McClellan completed a three-point play with 2:08 remaining to give Louisiana a 62-60 lead.

The Cajuns (16-15) picked up a steal by Kadeem Coleby and had a chance to create a two-possession game, but Roger Franklin blocked a Bryant Mbamalu attempt and the Mean Green (17-13) picked up an Alzee Williams layup on the break to knot the score at 62-all.

Tony Mitchell posted two blocked shots in the final 1:14, the second coming with 46 seconds left to set up Walton's heroics.

UL had a chance to forge overtime, calling a timeout with five seconds. Josh Brown's three-point attempt as the horn was sounding was off the mark and the Cajuns were left heartbroken in Hot Springs for the third straight year.

“It was a very good college basketball game, a good tournament game,” Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin said. “We played extremely hard and I'm proud of our guys.

“We fought well and had the game somewhat under control with about two minutes to go, it's all racing in my mind but there were about four or five things that had to go exactly right for them in a stretch and they all happened and they didn't happen for us.”

North Texas avenged a season sweep at the hands of Louisiana and moves on to meet Arkansas State in Monday's 6 p.m., semifinal. UL was dealt its seventh consecutive SBC Tournament defeat and remains winless in the event since 2006.

Four Cajuns scored double figures with Brown's 14 being a team-best. Elfrid Payton scored 13, Mbamalu had 11 and McClellan contributed 10 points. Louisiana played without Raymone Andrews and J.J. Thomas, who were suspended for conduct detrimental to the team earlier in the week.

The Mean Green was led by Walton's 16 points, one of four NT players in double figures. Mitchell was able to stay out of foul trouble and played 36 minutes providing a more significant impact defensively than the two regular season meetings.

North Texas finished with one more field goal make (25) than Louisiana (24). UL committed two more turnovers than NT and the Mean Green held a 23-17 edge in points off turnovers.

Sunday's meeting was the second all-time between the two schools in the SBC Tournament. NT is now 2-0 vs. UL in the event (eliminated Cajuns from 2007 tournament).

After the squads alternated scoreless chances in the first two minutes of play the Mean Green used a five-point spurt produced by a Williams floater from the baseline and Mitchell three-point play for a 5-0 lead at 17:52.

The Cajuns drew even with a McClellan trey at 17:43 and Payton layup at 17:08 off a loose ball after a NT attempt to save the ball from going out-of-bounds.

Louisiana grabbed its first lead during the 15-minute mark after a Brown layup off a long outlet pass from Payton came at 15:07 and provided a 12-10 lead.

NT went back in front on consecutive possessions during the 14-minute mark. McClellan made a pair of freebies at 13:01 to create a 14-all tie.

Both defenses settled in as only one field goal make was registered over the next three minutes, a Holmen basket that put NT up 18-14. The Cajuns rolled off a 6-0 run keyed by field goal makes on three straight possessions starting at 9:50 and went ahead 20-18.

Mbamalu scored a layup for a 22-21 Cajuns lead at 8:09 answering a three-point play from Walton that put NT up 21-20.

NT capped off a 5-0 with a Niko Stojiljkovic open look after a loose ball scramble and led 26-24 with 5:37 before the break. David Perez returned the lead to UL at 5:13 with a triple on the right wing.

Defense took over for the final five minutes as each team had only one make down the stretch.

NT broke a 27-all stalemate with a Kedrick Hogans free throw at 2:53 and held a one point lead at halftime as their last make of the opening stanza came first when Stojiljkovic hit a baseline jumper with 38 seconds remaining and it was 30-27.

A Payton basket on a goaltend by NT cut the Cajuns deficit to 36-34 at 16:30 of the second half and triggered a 9-0 run by Louisiana that was finished off after the 15-minute media timeout.

Steals by Payton led to a Brown dunk and layup off a lob pass that pulled the Cajuns in front 38-36 by the 15:18 mark. Walton misfired on a three-point attempt and the Cajuns pushed the ball back up the floor for a transition bucket by Payton that resulted in a three-point play and a 41-36 lead with 14:46 remaining.

The Mean Green came out of a timeout and produced an 8-1 run which gave them a 44-42 advantage by 13:02.

Payton got a running layup to bounce in off the glass to knot the score at 44-all and Mbamalu knocked down a trey at 10:45 for a 47-44 edge. UL held the lead until the series of lead changes down the stretch that began with a Walton triple at 7:13 and put NT up 51-49.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Cajuns Fall in Back-and-Forth Battle With Mean Green

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