SBC champion Cajuns to play Louisville Friday

<blockquote><p align=justify>Apparently, the third time was a charm for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette men’s basketball team.

After losing to Denver twice during the regular season, the Cajuns finally upended the Pioneers when it mattered most, taking a convincing 88-69 win in the Sun Belt Tournament championship game last Wednesday.

The Cajuns now advance to the NCAA Tournament, where they have earned a No. 13 seed. They will play No. 4 seed Louisville in the first round on Friday, March 18, in Nashville, Tenn. The game will be aired on CBS at 6:15 p.m.

Louisiana-Lafayette entered the Sun Belt Championship game on the heels of two momentum-building victories over Middle Tennessee and Florida International.

“ We prepared for this moment all year long. I told them we needed to win three games in March,” said head coach Robert Lee.

The Cajuns came out a bit sluggish to start the game, allowing the Pioneers to gain a seven-point lead early. Slowly but surely, however, the Cajuns clawed their way back to a 32-32 deadlock at halftime, despite shooting only 40 percent compared to Denver’s 52 percent.

Whatever coach Lee said to the players at halftime seemed to work, as Chris Cameron hit a 3-pointer at the start of the second half. The Cajuns never looked back, igniting a run over the first four minutes that left them with a comfortable lead.

“ Once we get a seven or eight-point lead, we’re difficult to catch,” Lee said after the game.

The closest Denver could get after that was within seven points, as they trailed 70-63 with 5:28 left.

<center><p><a href="http://vermilion.louisiana.edu/issues/20050316/News001.htm">The rest of the story</a>

The Vermilion
Chris Ledet
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Cajuns celebrate their 2004-2005 Sun Belt Conference win with their trophy.
Photo courtesy of Rick Yeatts of Rick Yeatts Photography and Sports Information
The Cajuns then finished the game with a surge, ending with an 18-6 run that rendered the final score, 88-69, and left little doubt as to which team was the true king of the Sun Belt.

The exclamation point came in the final minute, as Dwayne Mitchell drove through the lane, in-between all five Pioneer defenders and threw down a monstrous slam that was replayed repeatedly on ESPN’s SportsCenter the next day.

Tiras Wade led the Cajun effort with an incredible 30 points, 21 of which came in the second half. Wade was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament and also set the tournament scoring record with 82 total points over Louisiana’s three games. Joining Wade on the All-Tournament team were Mitchell and Brian Hamilton.

Mitchell and Orien Greene turned in the most impressive performances in the championship game for the Cajuns. Mitchell had 16 points and 8 rebounds, while Greene had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 6 steals.

The night was also historic for Lee, as he became the first coach to ever lead the Cajuns to the postseason in his first season. He is also the first coach in Louisiana-Lafayette history to record 20 wins in his first year.

“ The ‘General’ led us to victory,” said Wade, in reference to his coach.

Of course, the victory celebration didn’t end with the Cajuns cutting down the nets in Denton on Tuesday night.

The basketball banquet was held on Friday night, where Wade took home the team’s MVP award and Free Throw award. Other hardware was taken home by Hamilton (Rebounders’, Mr. Hustle, Defensive Leader), Mitchell (Assists, Most Improved Free Throw Shooter), Cameron (Senior Award), Adam James (Most Inspirational and Academic Achievement), Ross Mouton (Most Improved) and Greene (Lee Hill Memorial Award).

UL Lafayette President Ray Authement also was presented with the Rabid Red Dot Fan of the Year award.

By now, however, things are strictly back to business for the Cajuns.

According to Wade, “Now we need to go out and try to get a few wins in the (NCAA) tournament.”
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