UL - Kenny Dawkins scored 14 of Lamar’s 23 points in the final 7:15 to guide the Cardinals to a 78-68 victory over Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team here Tuesday evening in the CAJUNDOME.

Dawkins fueled Lamar’s game-ending 23-11 run which erased a 57-55 deficit with 7:39 remaining.

In a game which was evenly played and featured several scoring runs by each team, it was a missed free throw which turned the tide.

Dawkins hit two freebies at 7:15 to put Lamar (2-0) up 59-57 – the final lead change of the evening. Louisiana’s Jeremy Barr missed a 1-and-1 free throw attempt at 7:01 with the opportunity to pull even. The Cardinals moved up the court and Jay Brown began a critical 8-1 run which pushed the visitors in front 67-58 with 4:26 remaining. That was enough cushion for Lamar to hold off the Cajuns

Dawkins led all scorers with 29 points on 8-of-17 shooting and a 12-of-12 performance from the charity stripe.

Louisiana saw all five starters reach double figures in points led by a career-high 24 points from Travis Bureau. Tyren Johnson posted a double-double scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 boards.

The loss dropped Louisiana to 0-2 on the season – the first such start since 2005-06.

The Cajuns made the first move of the second half. The defense forced Lamar to miss six consecutive field goals and the UL offense reeled off eight straight points.

Trailing 41-34, a Ryan McCoy basket at 18:35 jumpstarted UL’s run. After a missed jumper by Tristan Worrell, Bureau buried the first of two three-point makes which capped off the Cajuns run and put Louisiana up 42-41 by the 16:30 mark.

Bureau’s third triple of the second stanza, coming at the 14:34 mark gave the Cajuns a 45-44 lead. The two teams traded points through the 9:49 mark and it was 53-all.

Free throws from Brown and Dawkins at 7:32 and 7:15, respectively, gave LU four points for a 59-57 lead. Barr missed the front end of a one-and-one chance and Brown grabbed the rebound for the Cards. He then connected on a jumper at 6:43 and all of a sudden Lamar was up 61-57.

The Cajuns shot 1-of-4 from the field and committed three turnovers from 7:39 through 3:24. The Cardinals scored six unanswered and jumped ahead 67-58. During the run Dawkins made four freebies.

A Dawkins jumper at 3:36 followed by an offensive foul on La’Ryan Gary led to another Dawkins make at 2:24 increasing the Cardinals lead to 71-60. Bureau buried three-pointers at 2:16 and 1:48 to help the Cajuns inch within five points.

Dawkins continued his second half scoring spree knocking down two freebies at 1:29 to make it 73-66. On the ensuing possession, Willie Lago fed the ball to Bureau who swung around the top of the key and threw an errant pass turning the ball back over to Lamar.

From there the Cardinals capped off the victory with visits to the charity stripe.

The Ragin’ Cajuns erased a 7-4 deficit, which came after a Brandon McThay three-point play at 17:17 of the first half, with a 9-0 run which vaulted the hosts into a 13-7 edge with 14:43 remaining in the opening half. Two field goals apiece from Johnson and Gary carried Louisiana during the run.

Louisiana’s lead was 16-9 at 13:32 – the largest at that point in the game – after McCoy rebounded a missed jumper by Johnson and converted the three-point play. The Cajuns would come up empty on the next four possessions and the Cardinals seized the chance to draw closer.

With the Cajuns missing shots, Lamar was successful on four consecutive possessions and posted its own 9-0 run to move ahead 18-16 at 11:04. The Cajuns blocked a shot on Lamar’s next possession and Barr lofted in a hook shot in the paint at 10:05 evening the score at 18.

The teams swapped makes after Barr’s equalizer. The difference was one of Lamar’s make was a triple by McThay at 8:18 which allowed the Cardinals to hold a 23-22 advantage after a Johnson putback at 6:57.

Inside of five minutes the Cajuns reeled off four unanswered. McCoy was trapped in the corner of the right wing and avoided the turnover by dishing the ball to Barr who was left alone for a dunk at 4:41 making it 27-25. The Cajuns forced a turnover and Barr pulled down the offensive rebound after McCoy missed two freebies and made two freebies of his own to create the fifth tied score of the half (27-27).

Coming out the media timeout Skyler Williams made a layup for LU at 3:01 to break the tie. It was the first points of a 7-0 Cardinals run which provided the cushion the visitors needed for a six-point halftime lead (38-32).

Louisiana travels Friday to Orem, Utah, for its first road game of the 2008-09 season. The Cajuns will meet Utah Valley at 8 p.m. (CST) in a return game from last season’s UVU visit to the CAJUNDOME. It’s Louisiana’s first visit to Orem.

RaginCajuns.com