Shepherd, Long Help Ragin' Cajuns defeat Islanders in CIT First Round, 96-72
LAFAYETTE – Senior Kasey Shepherd scored a career-high 28 points and tied a single-game best with six 3-pointers, while Shawn Long notched his 74th career double-double to move into a tie for 12th place in NCAA history as the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns rallied from an early deficit and defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 96-72, in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on Wednesday at the Cajundome.
Bryce Washington came off the bench to score 17 points while Jay Wright and Steven Wronkoski had 11 each as UL Lafayette (18-14) scored its most points in a post-season game since a 97-76 win over Santa Clara in the third round of the 1984 National Invitational Tournament. The Ragin’ Cajuns, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 CIT, advanced to the second round where they will face an opponent to be named later.
UL Lafayette, which won its first postseason game at home since defeating Florida, 65-64, in the first round of the 1985 NIT, used a 36-16 run in the first half that turned a 17-8 deficit into a 44-33 lead. Wright scored 10 straight points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Wronkoski buried a trio of 3-pointers, with his last one giving UL Lafayette a 44-33 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first half.
Shepherd, who scored 23 points with five 3-pointers in the second half, helped UL Lafayette pull away from a 46-37 halftime lead by making three straight 3-pointers. His 3-pointer from the left corner gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a 68-49 lead with 13:27 remaining, and UL Lafayette would eventually build its lead to 84-64 on a basket by Washington.
A&M-Corpus Christi (25-8), which was making its third straight trip to the CIT, used a 10-1 run early in the first half to take a 15-6 lead. Rashawn Thomas’ three-point play opened the run for the Islanders before Joe Kilgore scored seven consecutive points, the last coming on a dunk with 12:42 remaining in the first half.
After a layup by Ehab Amin gave the Islanders a 17-8 lead with 12:10 remaining in the half, the Ragin’ Cajuns chipped away at the lead as Long sank four free throws before buckets by Wronkoski and Wright would eventually cut the lead to 19-16 with 8:58 remaining.
Wright tied the game at 19-19 with a 3-pointer on the Ragin’ Cajuns following possession and after Hameed Ali gave the Islanders a 22-19 lead, Wright drained his second 3-pointer of the night that would knot the score with 7:34 left.
A&M-Corpus Christi’s Brandon Pye scored five straight points that would give the Islanders a 27-26 lead with 5:51 left in the half, but Wronkoski drained a go-ahead 3-pointer on UL Lafayette’s next possession and the senior would later add a pair of long-range jumpers for a 41-31 lead with 2:04 remaining in the half.
Long, who moved into second place on the Sun Belt’s all-time scoring list with 2,322 points, scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to move into a tie with former Memphis star Keith Lee and former Navy standout David Robinson for 12th place on the NCAA’s all-time list.
The Morgan City, La., native finished 5-for-8 from the floor and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line as Louisiana went 19-for-34 (56 percent) from the floor in the second half and 34-for-65 (52 percent) for the game. The Ragin’ Cajuns went 11-for-24 (46 percent) from behind the 3-point line and held a 40-31 advantage on the glass.
Thomas led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 17 points before fouling out with 9:53 remaining. Kilgore and Amin scored 11 points each for the Islanders with Pye adding 10.
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UT Arlington Claims First Postseason Win, 75-59 at Savannah State
SAVANNAH, Georgia – UT Arlington claimed the first postseason victory in program history in dominating fashion by racing past Savannah State 75-59 Wednesday night in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
The Mavericks (24-10) also tied a school record for most victories in a single season after winning for the sixth time in the last seven games. UTA receives a bye through the second round and advances to the CIT quarterfinals (March 22-24).
The Mavs learn their next opponent after the CIT's second round is played from Thursday to Sunday. As one of the three highest RPI teams in the tournament, UTA was awarded a pass to the second round.
The road to the first postseason tournament win in five tries didn't have many speedbumps, despite UTA being without starting guard Kaelon Wilson and key reserve guard Nathan Hawkins. Instead of shortening the rotation, UTA coach Scott Cross used all 10 available bodies.
Jalen Jones paced UTA with 19 points and 10 rebounds – his third double-double. Drew Charles knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 19. Kennedy Eubanks, starting with Wilson out, scored 13 and grabbed nine boards. Erick Neal dished out nine assists before fouling out.
The Mavs appeared to be the fresher team early, jumping out to a quick 13-2 lead at Tiger Arena before a string of SSU 3-pointers closed the gap to 18-17. UT Arlington would settle down and went into the locker room with a healthy 40-23 edge.
Jones had 12 points at the break, with Charles scoring 10. The Mavericks shot 62.5 percent (15-24) in the first half.
UTA's lead hovered between 20 and 28 points for most of the second half. UTA never trailed and the game was never tied.
Dexter McClanahan topped the Tigers (16-16) with 15 points in the first-ever meeting with UT Arlington.
Turning Point
After the Tigers cut the gap to 18-17, UTA responded with a 12-0 run to make it 30-17. The run would eventually expand to 19-2 as the Mavs effectively put the game away before halftime.
Key Stats
UTA outrebounded the Tigers 38-23. ... UTA outscored SSU 34-10 in the paint, including 16-0 in the first half. ... UTA enjoyed a 14-9 advantage in second-chance points. ... The Mavs shot 52.8-percent for the game to the Tigers' 31.3 percent.
Notable
Wilson (ankle) and Hawkins (foot) missed their first games of the season. ... Neal sits alone in second for most assists in a season with 206. ... UTA is now 1-4 in postseason play, including 1-1 in the CIT. ... UTA went 24-9 in 2011-12 to set the program record for wins. ... Mairega Clarke saw his first game action since March 1. ... UTA has 16 double-digit wins this season.
Up Next
UT Arlington awaits the results of the CIT second round before returning to action in the quarterfinals from March 22-24.
Quotable
UT Arlington coach Scott Cross' opening statement:
"Savannah State is a very good team, especially at home. They were 12-2 and we knew they weren't going to give it to us. Our guys did a great job defending and rebounding in that first half. We set ourselves up. It got very sloppy there at the end. Other than that our guys played extremely hard. I'm very thankful for this win No. 24, which ties the all-time most so I'm happy that our guys worked so hard to accomplish that."
Jalen Jones on the win:
"We competed. We knew how big this win was because it tied the most wins in a single season for UTA and was the first postseason win."
Jones on playing without key players:
"We know the next guy has to step up. This is a whole team, it's not just one person. When one person goes down, we know we have to come together as a team."
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UL Monroe Falls to Furman on Heartbreaking Buzzer-Beater in CIT Opening Round
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman ended the game on an 11-0 run in the final 2:08 including a buzzer beater by Daniel Fowler on a desperation put-back to stun the ULM men’s basketball program, 58-57 on Tuesday in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) as the fans stormed the court at Timmons Arena.
Furman (19-15, 11-7 SoCon) got its comeback started with a three-pointer by Fowler and then scored three straight lay-ups after a pair of ULM (20-14, 15-5 SBC) turnovers to cut the deficit to 57-56 with 45 seconds left. After a missed jump shot by ULM, the Paladins grabbed the rebound and had the ball with 19 seconds remaining.
Stephen Croone, the SoCon Player of the Year, drove to the basket but his lay-up was off the mark when Fowler pulled it down and threw up an off-balanced put-back from about eight-feet out that found the bottom of the net with no time remaining.
Senior Justin Roberson, the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year, scored a game-high 23 points and swiped a career-high six steals. Senior Majok Deng, an All-Conference First-Team selection, recorded 12 points including 10 in the second half.
The Paladins were led by Devin Sibley who scored 15 points. Fowler and Kris Acox finished with 11 points apiece.
ULM shot 11-22 from the field and 5-10 from three-point range in the first half, but were held to a 10-31 clip from the field and 0-8 from beyond-the-arc in the second.
The Warhawks forced a season-high 23 turnovers from Furman and also grabbed a season-high 16 steals.
Furman opened the game with a three-pointer, but ULM came back with an 8-0 run which included five points from senior Jamaal Samuel to lead by five with 16:32 left. The Paladins answered with an 8-2 spurt to re-take the lead, 11-10 at the 14:35 mark.
Back-to-back jumpers by Roberson put ULM back in front, 14-11, and two more baskets by the Natchitoches, La., native extended the edge to 20-13 with 5:57 remaining. Consecutive three-pointers from senior Mack Foster and Roberson pushed ULM’s advantage up to 29-16 with 2:01 to go.
The Paladins closed the half on a 7-0 run, but the Warhawks took a 29-23 lead into the intermission.
ULM led 31-25 in the second half when Furman responded with a 6-0 run to tie it at the 14:30 mark. The Warhawks went up 38-34 after an old-fashion three-point play by Roberson, but Furman came back with a 7-0 run to take a 41-38 lead with 9:10 remaining.
The Warhawks answered with a 6-0 run, capped by a steal and fast-break lay-up by Foster to jump back on top, 44-41 with 7:08 left. After Furman answered with back-to-back baskets to re-gain a 45-44 lead, junior Nick Coppola converted a lay-up and Roberson made a pair of free throws as ULM led 48-45 with 4:46 remaining.
Still up 48-46, the Warhawks went on a 9-1 run to grab a 57-47 edge with 2:08 to go.
The game featured seven lead changes in the second half.
NOTES
- ULM made its 11th postseason appearance in school history and second in a row. Last season, the Warhawks reached the finals of the College Basketball Invitational (CBI)
- The Warhawks played in the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 1991-92, 1992-93
- ULM ended the year winning 10 of its last 12 games. It saw its five-game road winning streak come to a close which was the third-longest active streak in the nation
- It marked the first-ever meeting between ULM and Furman
- The Warhawks are now 17-9 all-time against team’s currently in the SoCon (7-5 vs. Samford; 8-2 vs. Mercer; 1-1 vs. East Tennessee State; 1-0 vs. Chattanooga; 0-1 vs. Furman)
- ULM’s previous season-high in steals was 11 against Central Baptist on Dec. 18, 2015
- ULM’s previous season-high in turnovers forced was 18 in the season-opener against McMurry on Nov. 13, 2015
- Deng, the 2015-16 SBC scoring champion, finished his career with 978 points, 497 rebounds and 102 blocks in two seasons at ULM. His 362 defensive rebounds ranks top-five all-time in ULM history and he also ended fourth in blocks and seventh in minutes per game (33.2 mpg). Deng also finished first in the league this year in blocks, third in minutes and offensive rebounds, fifth in three-point field goal percentage, sixth in three-pointers per game, seventh in rebounding and eighth in free throw percentage. Deng scored at least 12 points in 25 of his final 27 outings. He registered 53 career double-digit scoring games, 13 20-plus scoring outings, three 30-plus scoring affairs and 14 double-doubles
- Roberson concluded his career with 832 points, 311 rebounds, 198 assists and 102 steals in two seasons at ULM. He scored at least 20 points 10 times including tonight and posted 40 double-figure scoring games. Roberson led the team in steals in back-to-back seasons and finished this year ranked second in the league. Roberson shot .416 from three-point range in 2015-16 which was a remarkable improvement from his .186 percentage in 2014-15
- Samuel wrapped up his career with 588 points, 298 rebounds and 62 blocks in two seasons at ULM. His 62 blocks ranks 13th in program history. He scored in double-figures 17 times this year and 25 times in his career with one double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds against South Alabama this season at home. He grabbed a career-high four steals in his final game, topping his previous best of two set three times
- Senior DeMondre Harvey led the team in field goal percentage for the third consecutive year with a .570 mark in 2015-16. He accumulated 474 points and 419 rebounds in three seasons at ULM. Harvey reached double-figures in scoring 15 times in his career including five of the last six games and also tallied five career double-doubles. ULM went 14-3 with him starting this season
- Senior Mack Foster finished his career with 247 points, 103 rebounds and 40 steals in two seasons at ULM. He scored at least seven points in each of his final three regular season games. Foster notched five career double-figure scoring games including a career-high 15 points at Troy last season
- Coppola ended the season as the school’s all-time assist leader with 409. He’s 86 points away from reaching the 1,000-point milestone. Coppola has started all 99 games of his career. He ranks third all-time at ULM in minutes played (3,535), fifth in career starts, sixth in three-pointers made (137) and sixth in assists per game (4.1). He posted 19 double-figure scoring games this year to bump his career total upu to 47
- ULM posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for just the third time in school history and the first-time since 1989-90, 90-91. It won 24 games last year
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“I thought we had a chance to win when we are up 10 with two minutes to go but we’ve blown leads all year. This is why I get upset when we’re at home and blood pressure gets up. We’ve blown them all year long. Ironically, we lose one just like that to end the season. The last two minutes we didn’t play very well obviously and had turnovers. We didn’t rebound on their misses. We took the three-point shot away except for one early-on but we didn’t get many good looks ourselves. Though, it was really about the turnovers. You can’t turn the ball over in an end-game situation, but we did and it cost us.”
On his overall thoughts of the season
“I’m very happy about the final two months of the regular season. The last half in New Orleans against Little Rock and the last two minutes tonight are sort of a bummer. But we played hard tonight under difficult circumstances in terms of the travel. We tried to sub guys in and out as much as we could and we got a lead. You see this sort of thing happen in college basketball from time to time but there’s no excuse to lose a 10-point lead with two minutes to go. It came down to possessions and we turned the ball over and gave them lay-ups. Anyway, it was a good season – disappointing end, but certainly a good season.”