Men's Basketball Scottie Rodgers

Men's Basketball Recaps and Scores - March 14-15

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14
LSU holds on for 84-76 win over Louisiana-Lafayette in NIT
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Duop Reath shot 10 of 14 from the field and finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and two steals to help LSU beat Louisiana-Lafayette 84-76 on Wednesday night in the first round of the NIT.

Brandon Sampson scored 18 points, Skylar Mays added 11 and Tremont Waters had nine points with seven assists for LSU.

Marcus Stroman hit a jumper with 1:39 to play that capped an 11-1 run and pulled ULL, which trailed by as many as 14 points early in the second half, within one. LSU (18-14) hit 9 of 13 free throws from there to seal it.

Frank Bartley's three-pointer gave the Ragin' Cajuns (27-7) a 10-2 lead, but LSU scored the next 12 points -- including a pair of dunks by Mays -- to take the lead for good. A 12-4 run pushed the lead to nine points midway through the second quarter and a 3 by Reath made it 40-28 at the break. ULL grabbed 14 of its season-high 21 offensive rebounds, and scored 13 second-chance points, in the second half.
Bartley led Louisiana-Lafayette with 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Jonathan Stove added 17 points and Stroman scored 12. Stroman, a 6-foot-2 guard, also had a career-high 13 rebounds and seven assists.

THURSDAY, MARCH 15
Austin Peay Dispatches ULM 80-66
CLARKSVILLE — Austin Peay picked up its first win in a post-Ohio Valley Conference Tournament appearance since 2003 with an 80-66 victory against Sun Belt foe ULM, Thursday, in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

The win pushes the Govs (19-14) onward into the CIT, with the Warhawks (16-16) 2017-18 campaign coming to an end.

The Govs pushed the pace for much of the first half, and never more than in its final few seconds, when senior Tre’ Ivory went the length of the court for a scooping layup, sinking the shot and giving the Govs a 41-29 lead at the break.

A curious game of cat-and-mouse ensued in the second half; ULM would threaten to whittle down the lead, getting as close as nine at one point, before Austin Peay would surge comfortably back in front, never leading by more than 16 points. Both teams shot an identical 50.0 percent in the second half, each securing 16 rebounds, with APSU hitting one more three (three to ULM's two) and the Warhawks one more free-throw (nine to Austin Peay's eight) over the final 20 minutes.