The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns time in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament was short-lived in a hard-fought battle against South Alabama but a last-second shot by Cedric Russell came up short in a 70-69 loss to the Jags.
How It Happened:
South Alabama took control of the ballgame early with an 8-2 run before the first media timeout. The Cajuns responded coming out of the timeout thanks to JaKeenan Gant attacking the paint and they were able to cut that lead down to one point with 12:46 left in the first half. The final moments of the first half were an absolute battle between both teams and it resulted in a 33-33 tie ballgame as both teams headed into the locker room.
The Cajuns managed to take control of the ballgame in the second half with a 9-2 run thanks to a couple of turnovers. However, the Jags responded with a huge run of their own to take a 57-52 lead with 9:13 left in regulation. The final moments of the second round matchup ended with a flurry of points with Gant tying things up at 69 points apiece with 1:43 left in regulation.
Rodrick Sikes was able to make the second free throw with four seconds left in the ballgame to give South Alabama the lead and a missed three-pointer sevenby Russell wound being the final nail in the Cajuns season.
Big Number: 24
Thursday night’s game was extremely competitive, but the biggest statistic that told the story of the night was that South Alabama had 24 points off of turnovers. When you look deep into the numbers, it feels like it was an incredibly close ballgame and this was the statistic that stands out the most when you look at it.
Player of the Game: Josh Ajayi
Ajayi really carried the Jags to victory with 25 points, sevn boards, and two assists on the evening. You compare that to the rest of the team, it was clear who the MVP was on this night.
-Clint Domingue