HONOLULU, Hawaii - UL's basketball team, one that was struggling to find itself less than two weeks ago, now finds itself heading into Sun Belt Conference play riding a wave all the way from the Hawaiian Islands.
The Ragin' Cajuns took their third win in four games late Saturday night and did it in dramatic fashion, taking an 82-80 overtime victory over East Tennessee State in the third-place game of the 44th annual Rainbow Classic at Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center.
UL (4-7), which opened Sun Belt play last Sunday with a surprising 68-67 victory at UL Monroe, took two of its three games on the Islands and will go into next Saturday's home conference opener against Florida Atlantic as one of the league's hottest teams.
"We were able to leave here with respect," Cajun coach Robert Lee said after his team fought off a 24-0 ETSU run and got two key 3-pointers from Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo in the extra period. "When we came here, I don't think people had enough respect for our team."
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com