Ragin' Cajuns Keep Win Streak Alive With Overtime Win over WKU
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- After one of the wackiest endings ever to a college basketball game, all UL coach Bob Marlin wanted to do was race out of E.A. Diddle Arena.
Marlin's Ragin' Cajuns beat Western Kentucky 72-70 in overtime Thursday night here, but only after freshman point guard Elfrid Payton drove the lane for a game-winning layup with three seconds remaining -- while five of his teammates, all active in the play, mostly stood on the floor and watched.
That's right: Five teammates -- Raymone Andrews, Josh Brown, J.J. Thomas, Darshawn McClellan and Kadeem Coleby -- and Payton, with the ball.
That's one more player than allowed, obviously, yet afterward officials did absolutely nothing about it.
Later, Marlin made no excuses for how UL escaped with the win.
"Officials are human and make mistakes too," he said in a phone interview.
Moreover, the Cajuns coach suggested that new NCAA emphasis on teams breaking their timeout huddles in a timely manner may have played a role in the bizarre 6-on-5 finish.
"You don't want to see that happen," Marlin said.
"But," he added, "maybe the officials need to "¦ make sure we have the right numbers on the court and not be in such a hurry."
UL improved to 8-8 after the win, its first Sun Belt Conference road game of the season and its first victory at E.A. Diddle since 2004. It also was the first true road victory in seven tries this season for the Cajuns, who have won three in a row overall and -- including 10 last season -- 12 straight Sun Belt regular-season games.
The Sun Belt, conference associate commissioner for communications John McElwain said late Thursday night, will review the game's end.
No change in its outcome is expected, however.
"Our coordinator of officials, Mike Wood, will review the tape and have a conversation with the officials, and we'll go from there," McElwain said after speaking with Sun Belt Commissioner Wright Waters.
But, McElwain added, such plays are "not reviewable once the game has gone to conclusion."
Marlin said he had no clue UL had six players on the floor at the time of Payton's winning basket.
Neither did Western Kentucky announcers calling the game for national cable-TV simulcast on Fox College Sports Atlantic.
Even immediately afterward, Marlin still didn't know.
Rather, his focus then was on trying to move a postseason celebration by Payton and the Cajuns off of the arena floor.
It was only later in the locker room, he said, that "one of them said 'Coach, we had six guys.' I said, 'What?' "¦ I had no idea."
Payton's game-winner was drawn up as a pick-and-pop with Thomas.
But Thomas never was able to set a screen, so Payton -- after initially losing his dribble -- simply drove, shook one Hilltopper defender and split two more before scoring with a scoop.
UL, which next plays Saturday night at Middle Tennessee, needed Payton's basket only after Derrick Gordon's 3-pointer tied the game at 70.
WKU (5-11, 1-2 Sun Belt) held UL to one field goal in the final four minutes and 40 seconds of regulation, and scored nine unanswered for a 62-59 advantage with one minute remaining.
UL broke a four-minute field goal drought with a Coleby dunk with 51 seconds to go, and forced overtime with three stops and a Payton free throw with seven seconds left.
WKU's Jamal Crook had a chance to win it late in regulation, but he missed.
The Cajuns fell behind 67-65 in OT after a Khalil McDonald 3-pointer with 2:29 remaining. McClellan answered for UL with a trey of his own from the left corner with 1:31 left for a 68-67 lead.
Payton's steal and ensuing layup with 1:10 to go put the Cajuns up by three, but Gordon -- who scored a game-high 20 points -- tied it with 27 seconds left.
Thomas finished a team- and season-high 19 points, and Andrews added 16 points on a night the Cajuns committed 20 turnovers but limited WKU to 33.3 percent shooting (25-of-73) from the field.
The UL points that matted the most, though, were the final two of Payton's five for the night.
After his bucket, a halfcourt heave from the Hilltoppers missed the mark and the Cajuns -- including all six on the floor -- were able to breath a sigh of relief.
Said Marlin to 1420 AM KPEL play-by-play announcer Jay Walker in his postgame interview: "We're gonna get in the locker room, get on the bus and get out of here before they figure it out.'
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