<blockquote><p align=justify>
Chris Gradnigo saw his first action of the season for the UL men's basketball team in Tuesday's 73-64 win over McNeese State.
Gradnigo, out since the preseason with a staph infection in his left elbow, scored 11 points off the bench and blocked a shot that would have tied it with four minutes to go on throwback night.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081204/SPORTS/812040327/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com • December 4, 2008
<!--
The sophomore guard received a standing ovation when he checked into the lineup with 13:51 left in the first half. Wearing a protective sleeve on his left elbow, the third team preseason all-Sun Belt selection made five of his eight shots from the floor in 26 minutes.
After missing his first shot, Gradnigo hit four in a row at one point. That included an off-balanced bank shot from the left side of the floor, a floater in the lane, a pull-up jumper, a 3-pointer and two-handed dunk in the closing seconds.
"Coming back was exciting," said Gradnigo, UL's leading scorer last season at 9.6 points per game. "The crowd gave me a big applause (when I first entered the game), and that was special."
It was Gradnigo's first game wearing the No. 33. Last season he wore No. 15.
"My godfather (UL assistant Rick LeBato) said that 15 made me look soft," Gradnigo said. "I changed to 33 because that's Larry Bird's number."
Odds and Ends
UL honored a number of former greats during halftime of its throwback game. Among those recognized included Dwight "Bo" Lamar, Sydney Grider, Byron Starks, Todd Hill, Reginald Poole, Alonza Allen, Payton Townsend, Charles English, Antoine Landry, Immanuel Washington, Brad Boyd and Ross Mouton. Lamar is the school's career scoring leader.
Townsend and Grider are the program leaders for single-season field-goal shooting and 3-point shooting, respectively ... UL travels to Alabama for a noon game on Sunday before taking off next week for final exams. The Cajuns then play the first of four consecutive home games on Dec. 13 against Louisiana College ... Lacassine native Stephan Martin scored eight points as a starter for McNeese on Tuesday. Carencro High grad Patrick Richard had six points off the bench for the Cowboys.
-->
