Cajuns again forced to settle for narrow defeat in NCAA play

NASHVILLE - One day soon, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns are going to break through and win a game in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

They almost did it Friday night, pushing the No. 4 seed Louisville Cardinals to the limit before falling 68-62 in first-round regional play at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

The Cajuns led 55-54 on a pair of Tiras Wade free throws with 5:09 left to play, and they held the Cardinals to just one field goal the rest of the way, but Louisville hit 12-of-14 free throws down the stretch for the victory.

"You guys saw a tremendous basketball game tonight," said Cajun coach Robert Lee, who guided Louisiana to a 20-11 record in his first year as the head coach.

"My guys played their hearts out and gave everything they had. We've come so far as a basketball team."

A Spencer Ford basket had the underdogs within 58-57 with 2:54 to play, but Louisville's Otis George slipped inside for a tip-in for his team's final field goal.

Then the Cajuns' Dwayne Mitchell fouled Francisco Garcia (27 points) on a 3-point attempt and the Cardinal guard calmly sank all three charities to make it 63-57 with 1:54 to go.

But Lee's Cajuns didn't come this far to fold, and Chris Cameron found Brian Hamilton for an outlet pass dunk and Tiras Wade hit a pair of free throws at the 1:11 mark to bring Louisiana within 63-61.

In between, Mitchell was called for a travel driving to the basket.

"When they called me for fouling the guy (Garcia) off a screen, I felt I didn't foul him," Mitchell said. "Then they called me for traveling and I felt I didn't travel.

"There's nothing you can do about that. All you can do is just keep playing."

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com