Ragin' Cajuns place a league-high 3 players on All-SunBelt team

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana nabs three All-Sun Belt Conference selections for the second straight season

LOUISIANA La. - While they didn't win any of the major awards, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team took top honors by placing a league-high three players on the All-Sun Belt Conference team, as released by the league office Thursday.

Seems fitting for a team that consisted of no real superstars, rather a collective unit that worked together to bring home the program's first outright regular season conference championship in 22 years and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

Seniors Laurie Bridges and Antoine Landry along with junior transfer Brian Hamilton were all named to the league's all-conference team as voted on by coaches and selected media.

The selections marked the second straight season that head coach Jessie Evans' squad had three all-conference performers. Since joining the league in 1991-92, Louisiana-Lafayette has collected 22 All-Sun Belt picks in 13 seasons.

Bridges earned second team honors while Hamilton and Landry were third team members. For all three, it was their first time being named to the All-Sun Belt team.

Considered the hardest worker and most consistent on the team, Bridges has done just about everything for the Cajuns this season. He currently is averaging 10.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game and has 79 assists and 36 steals.

He has started all 25 games for the Cajuns and has a streak of 46 consecutive starts dating back to last season

The senior guard pulled down 13 rebounds in the regular season finale vs. UALR for his third double-digit rebounding game of the season. Bridges has scored in double-figures in six of the last 10 games.

Landry, currently the team's leading scorer at 13.4 points per game in his first season as a regular starter, is having a career-year for the Cajuns.

His 66 three-point field goals made are a new personal single-season best, he is tops on the team with 115 total field goals made and ranks 26th in the nation for three-point field goal percentage at 43 percent.

Landry has scored 20-plus points six times including a career-high 27 points in the Cajuns win at Western Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 29. He scored 19 points at Dayton, 22 at Xavier and 20 at then-No. 4 Arizona, earlier in the season.

The 5-foot-11 guard from New Orleans has led the Cajuns in scoring in each of the last two games.

Hamilton, a transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, is the team's leading rebounder and ranks sixth in the Sun Belt with 7.0 rebounds per game. He has pulled his weight on both ends of the floor with 74 offensive rebounds and 102 defensive rebounds

Hamilton ranks third in the league for offensive boards and ninth for defensive and has four double-doubles to his credit. He has had at least seven rebounds in 15 games and has reached double-digits five times.

The Missouri City, Texas, native shot above 50 percent 20 times during the season's 25 game slate and ranks third in the Sun Belt for field goal percentage shooting 61 percent.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

All-Sun Belt first-team members include Western Kentucky's Mike Wells and Nigel Dixon, New Mexico State's James Moore, Middle Tennessee's Tommy Gunn and Arkansas State's J.J. Montgomery.

Second-team selections include UL Lafayette's Laurie Bridges, MT's Mike Dean, North Texas' Leonard Hopkins, ASU's Dewarick Spencer and Denver's Erik Benzel.

Third-team picks were Bo McCalebb of UNO, UALR's Brandon Freeman, UL's Brian Hamilton and Antoine Landry, and North Texas' Shawnson Johnson.

Wells was named the league's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. McCalebb was tabbed Freshman of the Year and Dixon earned Newcomer of the Year status. UALR head coach Steve Shields was honored as Coach of the Year.

The teams will be presented during halftime ceremonies in Saturday's quarterfinal games.


2003-04 ALL-SUN BELT MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

FIRST TEAM        CLASS        POS.        SCHOOL

Nigel Dixon         Sr.         C         Western Kentucky

Tommy Gunn          Sr          G         Middle Tennessee

J.J. Montgomery     Jr.         G         Arkansas State

James Moore         Sr.         F         New Mexico State

Mike Wells          Sr.         G         Western Kentucky

 

SECOND TEAM

Erik Benzel         Sr.         G         Denver

Laurie Bridges      Sr.         G         Louisiana

Mike Dean           Jr.         G         Middle Tennessee

Leonard Hopkins     Jr.         G         North Texas

Dewarick Spencer    Jr.         G         Arkansas State

 

THIRD TEAM

Brandon Freeman     Jr.         G         Arkansas-Little Rock

Brian Hamilton      Jr.         F         Louisiana

Shawnson Johnson    Sr.         F         North Texas

Antoine Landry      Sr.         G         Louisiana

Bo McCalebb         Fr.         G         New Orleans

 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR              Mike Wells, WKU

DEF. PLAYER OF THE YEAR         Mike Wells, WKU

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR            Bo McCalebb, UNO

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR            Nigel Dixon, WKU

COACH OF THE YEAR               Steve Shields, UALR

 

 

LOUISIANA SI