Thibodeaux's Triple-Double Leads Men's Hoops Past Florida College, 90-63

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NEW ORLEANS – Junior forward Travin Thibodeaux (IDS/Pre-Dentistry) posted a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 11 assists as the University of New Orleans men's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Florida College, 90-63, on Friday evening in Lakefront Arena.
 
The Privateers never trailed at any point during the ballgame, but the Falcons rallied from 10-point deficits to cut the UNO lead to five twice late in the first half. Florida College came all the way back to tie the score at 42-all 4:08 into the final stanza, but New Orleans settled down to rattle of 12 in a row – including three points and an assist by Thibodeaux during the game's key run – and extended the lead the rest of the way to improve to 2-3 on the year and a perfect 2-0 in home contest so far in the young season.
 
The triple-double was just the third in UNO men's basketball history at the Division I level and the first by a Privateer since Carl Blair had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 boards vs Houston Baptist on Dec. 5, 2009. His assist total was the most since Rarlensee Nelson equaled the tally vs Central Baptist on Feb. 18, 2013.
 
"Thibodeaux has worked so hard and made such huge strides in the off season," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We're so proud of his work ethic and his desire to get better. The stat that [isn't on the official sheet] was his voice. He's a good talker and communicator defensively and offensively. That's not a statable thing, but it was the reason we were able to get hot and figure out a way to win. For him to do that – he's just the third person to do that here – so he's in some elite company for a program that has the history that this one has."
 
As a team, New Orleans converted a season-best 60.0 percent of its field goals (33-of-55), including a .630 clip in the second half (17-of-27), out-rebounded Florida College 43-25 and outscored the Falcons 54-26 in the paint. Defensively, the Privateers held Florida College to a 39.7 shooting night (23-of-58) and a 33.3 percent performance from beyond the 3-point arc, including clips of .367 from the field (11-of-30) and .250 from downtown (3-of-12) in the second half.
 
Thibodeaux, who added a career-high six steals and a block to his triple-double performance, was one of four Privateers to post double figures offensively as senior forward Erik Thomas (IDS-Business) scored 23 while senior guards Christavious Gill (IDS-Behavioral Studies) and Tevin Broyles (IDS-Health Studies) added 20 and 13, respectively. Thomas led the UNO defense with two blocks.
 
The Privateers got off to a good start as Thomas, Broyles and junior guard Jorge Rosa (IDS-Behavioral Studies) hit layups the first three times down the court to stake UNO to a 6-0 lead. The Falcons hung tough, however, and cut a nine-point deficit into a three-point ballgame at 13-10 with 12:44 to play. New Orleans used a 16-9 run over the next 7:45 to go ahead by double figures and the lead remained 10 at 31-21 following a Thibodeaux bucket with 4:18 to go before the break. Florida College, however, refused to go away and whittled the deficit down to five twice and the teams went into the locker room with UNO holding a 38-31 lead.
 
Including a 3-pointer by Darian Dunham with 45 seconds to play in the first half, Florida College used a 14-4 to tie the game at 42-42 at the first media timeout of the second stanza. From there, however, Thibodeaux assisted on a Thomas bucket and connected on 3-of-4 free throws to stake the Privateers to a five-point lead they would not relinquish. Thomas converted a three-point play the next time down the court, logged a steal on the ensuing Falcons' possession and connected on a fast-break-layup to put UNO up 54-52 and junior forward Makur Puou (Political Science) capped the 12-0 run with a dunk at the 12:54 mark.
 
A trey by Eddie Moralobo cut the UNO lead to nine, but that was be the last time the score got to within single digits as Thibodaux drained another shot from the charity stripe and Gill buried a 3-pointer to put the Privateers comfortable ahead at 58-45. The two teams traded points the next three times up and down the court, but Puou sparked a 15-2 UNO run over the next four-plus minutes to make it a 25-point ballgame and the Falcons never got closer than 22 the rest of the way.
 
"It wasn't as pretty as we would have liked," Slessinger said. "The first half left a lot to be desired. We got off to a slow start, but in the second half we figured it out and got to playing at a high level. I was pleased with the way we moved the ball those last 16 minutes. We shared it unselfishly, we found stuff in transition and were able to score it a better rate. It definitely wasn't our best day by any means, but give Florida College credit for their game plan and how they attacked us. All of this sets up a huge game on Tuesday for sure."
 
Kent Hegarty paced the Falcons with 17 points and six rebounds while sharing the team lead in steals with Maralobo at three apiece. Maralobo was next for Florida College offensively with 16 points to go with a team-best six assists.
 
The Privateers return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 20, when UNO plays host to cross-town rival Tulane at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. That game will be broadcast live on Cox Sports Television. For tickets to that game, as well as future Privateer Athletics events, contact the UNO Athletics Ticket Office over the phone at (504) 280-GAME (4263) or via the Internet by clicking HERE.