Playing in front of a Valentine's Day crowd, UL Monroe flirted with the idea of beating UL in Lafayette for the first time since 1957.

Instead, the Ragin' Cajuns broke their Sun Belt rival's heart with a buzzer-beater for the second time this season.

Sophomore Tyren Johnson drilled a 3-pointer - his only basket of the game - from the top of the key with 6.7 seconds left Thursday night to give UL a 67-65 win at the Cajundome.

"We drew it up for La'Ryan (Gary), but he wasn't open," the 6-foot-8 Johnson said of the final play. "I was wide open. I didn't think twice.
"I was in the right place at the right time."

Johnson's timely basket helped move UL (11-13 overall, 7-6 SBC) into a tie atop the West Division with Denver and Arkansas-Little Rock, snap a two-game home losing streak and win its 23rd straight at home in the series.

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Joshua Parrott
jparrott@theadvertiser.com