Randell Daigle made five triples and tied his season-high with 19 points Saturday night at Lamar. The Cajuns won 68-60 at the Montagne Center in Beaumont to avenge last season's loss to the Cardinals and even the all-time series at 40-all.

In a back-and-forth contest of scoring spurts by both teams, Louisiana held Lamar scoreless for seven minutes and outscored the hosts 13-0 to pull away for a 68-60 victory Saturday evening at the Montagne Center in Beaumont, Texas.

The Cajuns trailed 54-51 with 9:35 left to play. That's when the aforementioned run occurred and helped the Ragin' Cajuns (4-5) build a 64-54 lead with 3:22 remaining following a Chris Gradnigo leaner.

Gradnigo scored 16 points in the second half to power Louisiana. Randell Daigle led the way, tying his season-high with 19 points on the strength of 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

Lamar (4-7), which suffered its first home loss of the season, received a team-high 14 points from Anthony Miles.

It was the first meeting between the two schools at the Montagne Center since Dec. 16, 1998. UL's victory marked the first time in the series that the road team won back-to-back in the all-time series. It also avenged last season's 78-68 loss to the Cardinals at the Cajundome.

The Cardinals sliced the lead to 37-34 in the first three minutes of the second half. Gradnigo and Daigle made baskets and the Cajuns lead grew to 41-34 by the 16:28 mark.

Charlie Harper provided a five-point spurt for Lamar inside of 15 minutes. Then off a blocked shot a long outlet pass led to a putback stuff by Justin Nabors at 13:52 that created a 44-all tie.

Gradnigo returned the lead to the Cajuns following a timeout as he buried a three-pointer on the left elbow at 13:31. He scored the next four UL points as the lead moved to 51-47 with 12:30 to play.

Miles pulled the Cardinals into a 51-all tie with a layup off an inbounds pass at 11:25, then a Kedrick Harris free throw make at 10:33 gave the hosts the lead.

UL pulled ahead 55-54 - the seventh and final lead change of the night - at 8:37 when Colby Batiste scored.

The Cajuns came up empty on their first two possessions, meanwhile the Cardinals scored on their first three for a quick 7-0 lead only 1:16 into the contest.

Travis Bureau drained a trey in the left corner at 16:49 to cap off a 6-0 Louisiana run that dropped the deficit to three.

A Batiste tap-in at 15:42 made it 10-8, but the Cajuns went without a point through the 12:15 mark and LU quietly built the lead up to eight points, 16-8.

Three-point makes from Daigle on consecutive possessions finished off the Cajuns' second 8-1 run of the half and cut the Cardinals lead to 17-16. The Cajuns took advantage of a 0-of-6 Lamar shooting stretch that spanned three-plus minutes.

Lamar received a putback basket from Harper at 8:28 to make it 19-16. After the seven-minute timeout, E.B. Davis knocked down a triple at 7:41 to push the lead to six points.

UL responded with a 7-0 run and took the lead for the first time on a Batiste dunk at 4:39.

That began a string of five straight lead changes as the teams swapped baskets. Corey Bloom drove baseline and completed a three-point play at 2:56 for a 28-26 Cajuns lead. The Cajuns full-court pressure forced a turnover at halfcourt and Bloom registered another basket to give UL its largest lead.

Louisiana's lead grew to seven points, 34-27, with baskets from Bloom and Batiste on the next two touches. A triple from Davis with 45 seconds left provided the final score of the half and cut UL's lead to 34-30.

Louisiana's next outing comes on Monday, Dec. 21 at the Cajundome. The Ragin' Cajuns welcome Tulane for a 7:05 p.m., contest. It's the first-ever meeting with the Green Wave at the Cajundome and first overall since February 1985.


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