Chris Gradnigo led Louisiana with 17 points. He led the charge at the charity stripe with a career-high 13 makes.

Turnovers and a low shooting percentage caused Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team to fall to the University of Mobile 68-64 on Tuesday night at the Cajundome.

The Ragin' Cajuns (1-2) committed a season-high 20 turnovers which prevented the team from finding a consistent rhythm. Those turnovers also led to 24 points for the Rams.

Louisiana shot 34 percent for the evening (14-of-41), and made only seven field goals and shot 33 percent (7-of-21) in the decisive stanza.

In a game that featured 13 tied scores and 13 lead changes, it was a missed free throw that broke a second half trend of swapping tied scores in the final eight minutes. Trailing 65-63, Randell Daigle missed the front end of a two-shot free throw opportunity.

He would make the second and after a foul Mobile's Marcus Polnett knocked down two freebies with 13 seconds remaining for a 67-64 lead. That would force the Cajuns to swing the ball around the perimeter for a three-point shot should they hope for the game to continue.

Chris Gradnigo saw his three-point attempts from the left corner hit the side of the rim and bounce into the hands of Ji Kimbrough to give UM possession. Kimbrough hit one free throw for the final margin and a two-possession game.

Gradnigo led Louisiana with 17 points. Daigle joined him in double figures with 12. After back-to-back games with at least five scorers in double figures, UL only saw two this time.

The Cajuns were able to get to the free throw line, attempting 42. Gradnigo led the charge at the charity stripe with a career-high 13 makes.

Mobile was led by Donte Walker's 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Robert Golston added 12 points.

The Rams used an 8-0 run after the Cajuns scored the game's first basket. Key to the run was a pair of triples by Treii Pace.

Trailing 13-6, UL forced UM into turnovers and launched a 9-0 run capped off by a stop-and-shoot basket in the lane by Daigle that returned the lead to the hosts at 15-13 with 10:31 left in the opening half.

After Daigle's bucket the teams swapped scores through the 7:53 mark. A basket by Brock Dockery lifted the Rams into a 21-20 lead. Dockery later drained a trey at the top of the key at 4:55 increased the visitor's lead to 28-22.

On the next two possessions the Ragin' Cajuns cut the deficit to a single point. Gradnigo tapped home a miss by Lamar Roberson at 4:31, then after a UM miss Daigle swished home a triple from the left corner at 3:44.

The Rams answered with Healey scoring inside 22 seconds later for a 30-27 edge. Then a free throw parade began that last the entire two minute mark. UM still held a 34-32 lead following Tyren Johnson freebies at 2:01.

That would be all the scoring the rest of the half.

Sloppy play continued to disrupt both teams at the start of the second half and prevent the Cajuns from holding on to two separate leads in the opening minutes.

Tyren Johnson made a three-pointer on the left wing at 15:41 to return the lead to the Cajuns at 39-38, but once again sloppy play led to four unanswered points for Mobile which resulted in a 42-39 lead with 14:59 remaining.

The teams went back-and-forth over the rest of the half with no lead larger than three points. The lead changed hands eight times and the score was tied seven times.

The Ragin' Cajuns will now take to the road for the first time this season. On Saturday, Nov. 28, Louisiana travels to Lake Charles to meet Interstate 10 rival McNeese State at 7 p.m., in Burton Coliseum.

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