Ragin Cajuns explode in OT

<blockquote><p align=justify>LAS CRUCES, N.M. - For the first time in his collegiate head coaching career, Robert Lee was in an overtime game here Thursday.

And his Louisiana Ragin' Cajun squad made it one to remember.

Keyed by a defense that did not allow New Mexico State a field goal in the last 3:40 of overtime, the Cajuns exploded late for an 89-79 victory over the homestanding Aggies to complete a sweep of their three-game road swing.

The Cajuns (9-7, 3-1) battled back from an 11-point deficit at halftime and forced overtime on Tiras Wade's two free throws with 19.2 seconds left in regulation. Then, the visitors trailed 75-72 with 3:40 left in the extra period on Josh Jenkins' three-pointer, before outscoring NMSU (4-13, 0-4) 17-4 the rest of the way.

"Our guys stepped up and showed a lot of heart," said Lee, whose team had taken road wins at South Alabama and New Orleans last Thursday and Saturday. "They didn't back down when it didn't look very good for us."

The Aggies didn't manage a field goal after Jenkins' trey, which was the only NMSU three-pointer of the second half. State's only scoring the rest of the way were a pair of free throws each by Jeff Jones and Mike Mitchell.

Cajun center Chris Cameron answered Jenkins' trey with one of his own, his first field goal of the game, and after Jones' two free throws Orien Greene drove for a basket and Brian Hamilton hit a 15-foot jumper at the shot-clock horn that gave the Cajuns a 79-77 lead with 2:05 left.

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Mitchell's two free throws tied it at 79, but Cameron nailed another three-pointer with 1:31 showing to give UL the lead for good. The Aggies missed two chances, and Greene rebounded the second and threw a length-of-the-court pass to Dwayne Mitchell. His dunk gave him a season-high 19 and his team an 84-79 lead with 1:06 left.

An Aggie turnover and a steal led to Greene's transition three-point play, and Greene added two more free throws after another NMSU miss.

In all, NMSU hit only eight-of-23 shots from the floor and was 0-for-10 outside the arc in regulation in the second half, after hitting 53.3 percent from the floor in the first half.

"Defensively, we did a much better job in the second half," said Lee, whose team hit 51.9 percent in the second half and was 7-of-8 from the floor in overtime. "I didn't like our effort in the first half a couple of times when they rolled to the basket."

Wade had 22 points including five three-pointers, four of them in the first half, and was one of the few bright points for the Cajuns as the hosts burst out to a 42-31 intermission lead. That edge was still 10 points at 51-41 with 13:18 left before UL went on an 11-2 run to make it a one-point game four minutes later.

Dwayne Mitchell hit 8-of-11 shots in his season-high effort, Greene had 18 points, seven boards and five assists and Hamilton had 16 points and 10 rebounds with 12 of his points in the second half.

"This was truly a team win," Lee said. "Obviously we try to get the ball in Tiras' hands when we can, but we have a lot of guys that can make plays."

Mike Mitchell led the Aggies with 23 points, and Duane John and Jones each had double-doubles (15 and 14 for John, 12 and 10 for Jones). But other than that pair, the rest of the Aggies totaled only eight rebounds as UL took a 39-34 board advantage.

The Cajuns also committed only 11 turnovers, their second-lowest total of the season, and had only two in the second half and overtime - a span of 25 minutes.

"For us to play 45 minutes and have only 11 turnovers is pretty good," Lee said.


Originally published January 21, 2005


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