NEW ORLEANS – The Privateers led for 29 minutes in regulation and
Gerrale Gates' jumper and block with less than 15 seconds remaining forced overtime, but the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (4-3) nailed clutch corner threes in the OT to defeat the University of New Orleans (3-3) 77-73 Wednesday evening at Lakefront Arena.
With 11.9 ticks remaining, Gates scored to tie the game at 59 and on the ULL potential game winning drive, the freshman swatted away a floater to force the OT. Gates finished with a career-high 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting and added six rebounds, two blocks, two steals and two assists.
Damion Rosser posted his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and dished out four assists.
Scott Plaisance Jr. scored nine points and pulled down nine rebounds to go with his three blocks and three steals.
"I am proud of the effort our guys had and we continue to push this in the right direction," said head coach
Mark Slessinger. "We played a team that doesn't turn the ball over and forced 19 turnovers and we were able to get 17 offensive rebounds. It was a great snapshot of where our team is and how quickly we are getting to the destination we want to be."
FIRST HALF
The Privateers swiped two passes and Gates swatted a shot to give UNO a 9-4 lead at the under-16 media.
New Orleans extended its least to nine at the under-8 media with a balanced offensive and defensive attack. Seven players collected a field goal and Plaisance Jr. blocked two shots.
The lead reached double figures with
Bryson Robinson finishing a contested layup off a steal, and moments later, swiped a pass that led to an alley-oop to Rosser.
ULL went on 11-0 run to cut the deficit but the Privateers led at halftime 29-26.
Gates was the team leader with six points on 3-of-3 shooting,
Ezekiel Charles followed with five points. Plaisance Jr. registered two blocks and two steals in the half and Robinson added two steals.
The Privateers forced 14 Ragin' Cajuns turnovers.
SECOND HALF
New Orleans continued to come up with the big play with Rosser's block leading to a
Lamont Berzat layup to extend the lead to six with 14 minutes to play.
Louisiana-Lafayette took its first lead of the game with 9:11 to go, 45-44, on P.J. Hardy's layup. The Ragin' Cajuns could not take full control as the Privateers continued to mount a comeback and went into the final media timeout down one possession.
Charles' jumper with 3:03 to play and the block on the Ragin' Cajun possession led to a Gates layup as the Privateers made it a one-point game (55-54 ULL).
With 1:44 to go, Gates found Rosser in the paint as UNO regained the lead 56-55. Cedric Russell connected on two free throws with 1:16 to go to put Louisiana back in front.
Rosser made the backend of his free throws with 54 ticks to go to knot the game at 57. A Kareem skyhook by Justin Miller with 31.1 seconds remaining put the Ragin' Cajuns in the driver's seat.
The freshman came up with a huge bucket as Gates' jumper from just inside the paint with 11.9 to go in regulation gave us the second tie of the half.
Gates swatted away the potential clincher for ULL to force overtime as New Orleans faithful in Lakefront Arena were treated to five additional minutes of back-and-forth action.
OVERTIME
ULL and the Privateers traded points to begin OT and the Ragin' Cajuns took a five-point lead following a Jerekius Davis three. Gates' and-one made it a two-point game, but the visitors hit another corner triple to make it 71-66. A fast break bucket gave ULL its largest lead of the game (seven).
Rosser continued to attack and drained both from the line with 31.1 to go.
Following a miss at the line by the Ragin' Cajuns basket,
Jorge Rosa nailed a contested three with 3.0 seconds remaining as the Privateers chipped at the ULL lead.
Hardy made both free throws with 1.7 ticks to give the Cajuns the 77-73 win.
INSIDE THE BOX
Robinson came off the bench with 11 points. Five players reached double figures for ULL but a team that entered averaging a Sun Belt Conference high 80 points per game shot 37.5 percent in the second half.
Despite its second half shooting, the Privateers hung with the Ragin' Cajuns and forced 19 total turnovers. Entering Wednesday, UNO was second in the nation in forced turnovers per game.
NEXT UP
UNO concludes its home stand Wednesday, December 5 on Finals Frenzy Night when South Alabama enters Lakefront Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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