Men's Basketball Drops Last-Minute Heartbreaker To UL-Lafayette, 76-71

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NEW ORLEANS – Saturday's non-conference men's basketball game between the University of New Orleans and Louisiana-Lafayette had everything a storied, state rivalry should. There were big runs, key buckets and back-and-forth battles to keep the fans in attendance on the edge of their seats throughout the contest.
 
When the final buzzer sounded, however, the homestanding Privateers found themselves on the wrong end of a 76-71 decision as the Ragin' Cajuns overcame a 66-59 deficit with 5:19 to play and scored the final eight points of the contest to come out on top. In defeat, UNO falls to 4-5 on the year. Louisiana-Lafayette improved to 9-3.
 
"It's extremely disappointing to not come out of this with a win," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "We did a lot of things very well today, but we had some breakdowns and some costly turnovers in both halves where we just got ahead of ourselves and played a little faster than we wanted to. This is a team that is averaged [nearly] 90 a game. We wanted to keep it down in the 50s and 60s if we could, but it got a little quicker than we wanted it to in the second half. This one hurts and it stings."
 
New Orleans posted better percentages across the board with a .500 showing from the field (26-of-52), a .308 mark from beyond the 3-point arc (4-of-13) and a .682 performance from the free throw line (15-of-22) to the Ragin' Cajuns' .385 (26-of-65), .240 (6-of-25) and .571 (20-of-35) clips, respectively. The difference came off the glass, though, as UL-Lafayette held a 44-33 rebounding advantage and turned 19 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points.
 
Senior forward Erik Thomas posted his third-consecutive double-double, and fourth of the season to date, with 19 points and 12 rebounds. He was one of three Privateers to post double-figure scoring totals as senior guards Tevin Broyles and Christavious Gill both had 11. Making his first appearance of the young season, senior guard Nate Frye came off the bench to score nine points, hand out a game-high six assist and share team-high block honors with Thomas at two apiece. Thomas and Gill led the Privateer defense with three steals each.
 
"We had to overcome a lot of foul trouble and overcome a lot of weird combinations that hadn't been out there together," Slessinger said. "Nate had to kick some rust off. There were two or three plays where we really needed him to convert and get right, but we'll get there. I'm proud of the way they guys fought. I'm proud of where we're at as a team. This was an honest loss. We played hard. We played very unselfish basketball. It was a hard-fought game. It just didn't go our way."
 
UNO scored the game's first points on a bucket by Broyles, but that was the Privateers' lone lead of the first half as Louisiana-Lafayette scored the next five and took what appeared to be a commanding 10-point lead at 14-4 with 12:23 to go before the break. New Orleans answered with a 9-0 run over the next 2:21 to make it a one-point affair only to see the Cajuns go on a 6-0 rally to keep the home team at arms' reach.
 
UL-Lafayette held a nine-point edge at 24-15 with 7:36 to play in the period and UNO got things together offensive to go on a 16-8 run to make it a one-point game again at 32-31 at the 1:25 mark and the Cajuns scored the final points of the half on a dunk by Scott Plaisance to go into the locker room with a three-point lead.
 
The Privateers took their first lead since the opening minutes of the ballgame on a layup by junior wing Michael Zeno 3:06 into the second half to make it 39-38 and held a 42-38 advantage two trips possessions later. UL-Lafayette came right back with an 18-8 run to go up 56-50 with 10:22 to go, but UNO had an answer of its own with a 12-0 run highlighted by four points by Thomas and a pair of Gill 3-pointers over the next 3:50 to take a 62-56 lead.
 
New Orleans' lead swelled to as many as seven at 66-59 on a pair of Frye free throws with 5:19 to play in regulation. That set up the first of UL-Lafayette's game-deciding runs as the Cajuns rattled off seven in a row to tie the game, and withstood a 4-1 UNO rally before the 6-0 run to close things out.
 
"Our guys are working their tails off. I like where we're at and we're going to keep moving forward," Slessinger added. "We've got a tough game Monday night at Utah State. We're going to go two time zones away and then come home on Wednesday night. Hopefully this same crowd, and maybe more, will be here then to support these kids."
 
Jay Wright led Louisiana-Lafayette with a game-high 27 points after sinking 9-of-20 field goals, including a 3-of-8 showing from 3-point land, and a 6-of-9 performance from the free throw line. Justin Miller was next for the Cajuns with 11 points while Frank Bartley added 10. Bryce Washington led all players with 14 rebounds and five steals while Wright paced the visiting club with four assists.
 
The Privateers return to action on Monday, Dec. 19, when they travel to Logan, Utah, to face Utah State in a game that will televised live on the Mountain West Network. From there, UNO will start a three-game homestand on Wednesday, Dec. 21, against Williams Baptist at 7 p.m.  in Lakefront Arena. For tickets that game, and 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.