Cajuns Win Fifth Straight, Trip UALR 75-69

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns won their fifth straight game and clinched a first round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans by defeating Arkansas-Little Rock 75-69 on senior night before 4,134 at the CAJUNDOME.

The Cajuns (18-12, 12-7 Sun Belt) prevailed in a back and forth game due to outstanding free throw shooting.  Louisiana made 22-23 from the charity stripe (95.7%) including a perfect 17-17 in the second half.

Devonta Walker led the Cajuns with 15 points, including 9-10 from the line.  Walker made 8-8 from the line in the final 33 seconds.  Jay Wright scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, while Shawn Long added 13 points and nine rebounds.

UALR (13-17, 8-12) was led by Roger Woods, who scored 17 points, while J. T. Thomas added 14 and Josh Hagins chipped in 12.

The Cajuns never trailed after the 14:34 mark of the first half when Xavian Rimmer, playing in his final home game, scored on a three point play inside to give Louisiana an 11-9 lead.  UALR tied the game twice in the second half, the last time with 11:52 to play on a three point basket by reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week Mareik Isom which tied the score at 45.  But the Cajuns then went on a 7-0 run to claim their biggest lead, 52-45 on a three point basket by Steven Wronkoski, a Walker layup and two Long free throws.

Roger Woods' layup with 4:36 cut the lead to 58-57 but that's as close as the Trojans would get.  Wright hit a three pointer 31 seconds later to get the lead back to four points and scored on a layup to push the score to 63-57.  Long hit two big baskets , the last coming with 1:50 to go and Walker took care of the rest from the free throw line.

UALR shot 44.8 percent from the field (26-58) and hit 8-24 from beyond the arc.  The Cajuns shot 40.7 percent (11-27) in each half and hit nine three pointers.  The Cajuns owned the boards 39-21 with Louisiana capturing 12 offensive rebounds.  UALR turned the ball over only five times while the Cajuns were guilty of 13 miscues.

The Cajuns have clinched the #4 seed for the tournament and will play Friday at 5pm against either #5 UT Arlington or #8 Texas State.  UALR clinched a spot in the tournament despite the loss and will be seeded either sixth or seventh.