Comeback For Cajuns Falls Short In SBC Semifinals, 72-65

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team fought back from a 14-point deficit in the first half, but top-seeded Little Rock made 13 of its final 16 shots down the stretch and earned a 72-65 victory in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Saturday at Lakefront Arena.

Jalen Jackson came off the bench to score 16 points while Josh Hagins added 15 as Little Rock (28-4), advanced to Sunday's SBC Championship Game against the winner of the ULM-UT Arlington. Louisiana, which was making its third straight semifinal appearance, fell to 17-14 overall.

Little Rock, ranked third in the nation in scoring defense entering the game, forced 18 turnovers which led to 27 points. The Trojans built a 31-17 lead in the first half on a pair of free throws by Marcus Johnson, Jr., while their defense forced eight turnovers in the opening 20 minutes which resulted in 12 points.

Jackson scored seven consecutive points in a 15-4 run, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 11:08 remaining in the first half for a 12-10 lead. The Trojans took a 33-19 lead on a bucket by Jackson with 1:24 remaining in the half before baskets by Shawn Long and Devonta Walker cut the lead to 33-23 at halftime.

"We're disappointed with the outcome of the game," head coach Bob Marlin said. "Certainly in the first half, we didn't play very good and they (Little Rock) got some transition points off of our turnovers. That would up being our undoing in both halves."

Louisiana whittled away at the deficit in the second half as the Cajuns used a 15-5 run to tie the game at 38-all with 12:00 remaining. Long, who moved into third-place on the school's all-time scoring list, opened the run with a 3-pointer before Kasey Shepherd added a layup and Long a short jumper that closed the gap to 36-30.

Jay Wright sank one of two free throws for the Ragin' Cajuns and followed with a 3-pointer that closed the gap to 36-34 with 13:57 left. After Little Rock answered with a jumper by Jackson, Louisiana knotted the game at 38-all as Long scored twice in the paint to lead the Louisiana rally.

After both teams traded baskets, Little Rock took the lead for good as Roger Woods scored on a jumper and Hagins followed with a 3-pointer for a 45-40 advantage. The Trojans would push their lead to 55-45 on a 3-pointer by Mareik Isom with 8:10 remaining and would hold off the Ragin' Cajuns the remainder of the game.

The Trojans capitalized on a Ragin' Cajuns turnover as Johnson buried a 3-pointer for a 66-59 lead with 3:26 remaining and Lis Shoshi hit a baseline jumper for a 68-63 with 1:19 left.

Long, who scored a career-high 34 points in Friday's semifinal win over South Alabama, scored a game-high 25 points for Louisiana. The senior increased his career scoring total to 2,305 points, trailing Bo Lamar and Andrew Toney on the school's all-time scoring list. Long, who dished out four assists, added three blocked shots to move into second-place on the Sun Belt's all-time list with 267.

Shepherd scored all 18 of his points in the second half for Louisiana, which finished 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) from the floor and 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line. Bryce Washington pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns, who held a 35-26 advantage on the glass.

Shoshi and Johnson, Jr., each added 13 points for the Trojans, who finished 28-for-52 (53.8 percent) from the floor and 8-for-16 from behind the 3-point line.

"We had too many turnovers down the stretch to win a game like this," Marlin said. We had 18 (turnovers), our goal was 10 and we averaged 12 on the year. You can't win a game like this against a team that is playing well and hitting big shots by turning it over. It just wasn't enough today, we had to play better to beat a Little Rock team that is very good."

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Team Stats

Shawn Long

Kasey Shepherd

Johnathan Stove

Jay Wright

Players Mentioned

Shawn Long

Kasey Shepherd

Devonta Walker

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright