The way Saturday night ended wasn’t exactly the way the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (26-5, 16-2 Sun Belt) wanted to end senior night. Despite the Cajuns having a ten-point lead with 7:49 left in regulation, the Little Rock Trojans (7-24, 4-14 Sun Belt) came away with a 72-61 victory in the Cajundome.
Both teams traded the lead back and forth for much of the first half with neither team really getting their footing early on. The Cajuns got the first big lead of the ballgame thanks to a three-pointer from Justin Miller, putting them up by six with 7:38 left in the first half. However, the Trojans responded with a late run and forced Frank Bartley to drain a three as time expired to tie it at 23 points.
The second half started out very much like the first half did with both teams trading the lead throughout. Louisiana did put together a strong run after the first media timeout, going on a 13-0 run to get up by double digits with 10:53 left in regulation. However, Little Rock fought back in the final moments getting a two-point lead with 13 seconds left. Malik Marquetti was able to forced overtime with a pair of late free throws.
The overtime period was a poor showing by the Cajuns, only getting eight points in the overtime period, giving the Trojans the chance to go on a 9-0 run in the final 1:27 to take down the Sun Belt Conference regular season champs.
The Cajuns will now take on the winner of Coastal Carolina and Texas State on Friday with tipoff set for 11 am.
-Clint Domingue