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UL finally ended two weeks of agony on Saturday.
Riding a four-game losing streak, the Cajuns overcame an epic offensive funk in the first half against Denver to rally for a 63-62 win in double overtime at the Cajundome.
UL's La'Ryan Gary hit two free throws with 7.8 seconds left in the second overtime for the winning points in the Sun Belt Conference contest. The junior guard stayed cool under pressure by focusing on his normal free-throw routine with the game on the line.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20090104/SPORTS/901040331/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com • January 4, 2009
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"I was just thinking about how I shoot them (free throws) in practice," said Gary, who had made 80.8 percent of his free throws this season going into the week. "I didn't think about anything else."
Gary was the driving offensive force for UL (5-8 overall, 2-1 Sun Belt) with a team-high 15 points. The Lafayette native made five of seven field goal attempts and five of six free throws and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Chris Gradnigo was the only other double-digit scorer with 14 points for the Cajuns, who lost 81-79 on the road Wednesday to a one-loss LSU team.
Points were hard to find most of the day against a Denver team that tries to play at a slower tempo and frustrate opponents with its deliberate half-court motion offense and match-up zone defense. At one point in the first half, UL went scoreless for nearly 12 minutes as the Pioneers took a 15-point lead.
But by the end of the day, Denver (6-8, 1-2) lost its 38th consecutive true road game - the nation's longest active streak. It was the second consecutive heart-breaking loss for the Pioneers, who fell 54-52 on Thursday at New Orleans.
Brian Stafford poured in a career-high 25 points for Denver, while Rob Lewis added 10.
"As a young team, we've got to learn how to close things out on the road," said Denver coach Joe Scott, whose team is the youngest in the nation this season. "We're going to learn how to do it."
Denver has plenty to fix after getting out-rebounded by nine and seeing UL score 26 points off 22 turnovers.
The Cajuns had few things to cheer about in the first half. Leading 12-4 with 12:28 to go in the opening half, they allowed 23 consecutive points before Travis Bureau's 3-pointer with 59.6 seconds to go before halftime.
Gary added a dunk in the final seconds before the horn, but UL still went into the half down 27-17.
While Denver players got assists on nine of the team's first 10 made baskets, the Cajuns had as many field goals as turnovers (seven) in the first half. They also got out-shot 48 percent to 25 percent.
"In the first half, we just struggled with their offense," said UL guard Randell Daigle, who finished with eight points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. "We had a lot of open shots on our end, but we just didn't make them."
The game changed when UL coach Robert Lee decided late in the first half to go with five guards and switch defensively whenever Denver screened on offense.
Those changes helped the Cajuns rally down the stretch.
After Lamar Roberson scored three points in the final minute of regulation to give UL a two-point lead, Denver's Sabatino Chen hit two free throws with 4.2 seconds left to tie it 51-all. Roberson had a chance to win it in regulation, but he missed a 3 at the buzzer.
Neither team led by more than two points in the first overtime before the game was decided in the second extra session. Both sides took brief leads before Denver's Brian Stafford made two free throws for a 62-61 lead with 18 seconds left.
On the other end, Gary had a chance to win it after getting fouled by Denver's Travis Hallam in the closing seconds. Gary calmly drained both free throws to give the Cajuns the thrilling win after Denver's Kyle Lewis missed a 3 as time expired.
"I didn't think we finished the (first) half well," Scott said. "They (UL) made it a nip-and-tuck game the rest of the way.
"They made some adjustments, and we got in foul trouble and turned it over too much."
Lee looked relieved in his post-game press conference after the nail-biting win. Now UL hits the road for back-to-back games in league play. After playing at New Orleans on Thursday, the Cajuns go to Troy on Saturday.
"Anytime you can win, whether it's by 30 or it's by one in double overtime, it's a great feeling," Lee said. "Tonight, Denver went home with an 'L' and we got a 'W.'
"So everything is good today."
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