Last-Second Shot Sinks Men's Hoops In 87-84 Loss At Abilene Christian

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ABILENE, Texas – For 39 minutes and 49 seconds, the University of New Orleans men's basketball team played perhaps its best game of the year in terms of guts, grit and determination. Over the final 11 seconds, however, things unraveled rapidly as the Privateers dropped an 87-84 Southland Conference contest to Abilene Christian on Saturday evening in Moody Coliseum.

Clinging to an 84-82 lead, the UNO (9-17, 5-10) defense allowed a layup by the Wildcats' Jaylen Franklin – which tied the game – and still had a chance to win in regulation. Following an ACU (13-16, 8-8) timeout, the Privateers dribbled up the court only to have the ball stolen by Franklin, who dished teammate Jaren Lewis and Lewis' desperation heave as the buzzer sounded found the bottom of the net to account for the final score.

"It was an amazing back-and-forth game and the outcome, obviously was not what we wanted," UNO head coach Mark Slessinger said. "I wish I had some profound statement for what happened, but they threw in a crazy, over-the-shoulder, half-court bank shot. It wasn't a set play. There was a scrum on the floor after a loose ball, they threw it up and it banked in. My heart breaks for the team's effort and their attitude.

"It's just a real hard one to swallow, but that's basketball. It was a great game, and I'm not going to take anything away from ACU. It was a good game on both sides and it's hard to say anything negative. Both teams laid it on the line today, They played with a lot of heart and a lot of effort. If it was us that made the bank shot, I would have said the same thing."

As a team, the Privateers shot 47.3 percent from the field (26-of-55), including a 4-of-8 showing from beyond the 3-point arc, and 71.8 percent from the free throw line (23-of-39). UNO held a slight 40-36 advantage in points in the paint, had 33 rebounds to Abilene Christian's 32 and outscored the Wildcats off the bench 24-17. ACU hit 50.9 percent of its field goals (28-of-55), including a .552 clip in the second half (16-of-29).

Lost in the disappointment of the defeat was the performance of sophomore wing Michael Zeno, who posted the first double-double of his career with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He was one of five Privateers to finish in double digits offensively as junior guard Christavious Gill and sophomore forward Travin Thibodeaux added 13 each, junior guard Nate Frye scored 11 and junior forward Erik Thomas finished with 10. Frye finished one rebound shy of a double-double, pulling down a career-high nine boards. Gill led the New Orleans squad with six assists and four steals

It was a game of runs early on as the Privateers sailed out to a 10-5 lead before the Wildcats roared back with a 15-2 run to go ahead 18-12. Abilene Christian held a four-point lead at 22-18 with 8:23 but New Orleans outscored the home team 20-8 over the next 6:03 to go ahead by eight. The two teams traded the next four points and Isaiah Tripp buried a 3-pointer for the Wildcats to make it 40-35 at the break.

Abilene Christian opened the second half with a 9-1 rally to go ahead 44-43 but  UNO answered with a 15-8 run over the next six-plus minutes to take a 58-52 lead with 11:14 to go. It remained a six-point game a minute later and the Wildcats got hot, hitting each of their next three field goals and 7-of-8 free throws to go ahead 72-67 with 6:49 on the clock. The Privateers rallied to tie the contest at 76-all and the game remained deadlocked at 79-79 a few possessions later.

Frye hit a combined four free throws on the Privateers' next two trips down the floor to go ahead by four with 28.1 seconds to go. UNO seemed poised for the victory as the defense forced a miss and Zeno pulled down the rebound before being fouled. His two free throws, however, were off the mark, and Franklin streaked up the floor and converted a three-point play with a layup play the and-one free throw to set up the last-second drama.

"The one thing that can't be defeated is our attitude," Slessinger said. "We have to have an undefeated attitude, just keep grinding and keep working. You're not going to get any better if you don't work at it. We're going to keep grinding. The guys were very, very frustrated. They were disappointed. They were hurt. It was one of those crazy basketball games and you get them now and again."

Franklin led Abilene Christian with a game-high 28 points, followed by Jalen Little with 15, Lewis with 13 and Parker Wentz with 10. Franklin and Austin Cooke shared team-high rebounding honors with seven each, Little paced the squad with five assists and the duo of Lewis and Wentz each had a pair of steals.

The Privateers return to action on Monday, Feb. 29, when they travel to Thibodaux, Louisiana, to close out a four-game road swing at Nicholls. UNO will be back in Lakefront Arena on March 3 to take on Southeastern Louisiana before closing out the regular season at home against Northwestern State on March 5. Both of those home contests are the second half of UNO doubleheaders as the respective schools' women's teams will play prior to the men's contests.

Tickets UNO's final two home games of the 2015-16 basketball season and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).