Wade, UL advance to finals with rout of Louisiana Tech

BATON ROUGE — Tiras Wade couldn’t wait to take the court for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns, and it showed.

Robert Lee was eager for his first UL team to show what it could do in its first regular-season game, and that showed, too.

Wade’s 20 points led five players in double figures as the Cajuns hammered Louisiana Tech 84-63 in Friday’s first game of the Louisiana Classic tournament at LSU’s Maravich Assembly Center.

The victory moves UL into Sunday’s 3 p.m. championship game against host LSU, a 83-58 victor over Tulane in Friday’s second contest, after Tech faces Tulane at 12:30.

“It feels great to get that game out of the way,” said Wade, who sat out last year after transferring to UL from East Tennessee State and figures to add long-range scoring to the Cajun arsenal.

“Once I knocked that first jumper down, I relaxed.”

Senior guard Orien Greene added 18 points for the winners, hitting 3-of-5 3-point baskets, while Brian Hamilton and Dwayne Mitchell had 11 points apiece and newcomer Spencer Ford added 10.

“It was a great feeling to walk out on the court before the game,” Lee said. “I can’t even explain the feeling. Then, for us to play as hard as we did, I couldn’t be any more satisfied.”

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com