The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (17-11 7-8 Sun Belt) sure seem to have a bit of a flair for the dramatic lately. Just one week ago, they were able to come away with a big win at the buzzer over UL Monroe.
The Cajuns started out looking really good, but a late rally by the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (14-15, 9-7 Sun Belt) made things interesting in the final minute.
With 59 seconds remaining in regulation, the Chanticleers got within three points with a jumper from Shivaughn Wiggins. Jaylen Shaw would tie things up with 34 seconds left with a three pointer.
Frank Bartley would give the Cajuns a 79-77 lead with 17 seconds after he was sent to the free throw line. Roydell Brown would then foul Demario Beck, who has shot 54 percent from the charity stripe this season. That gamble would pay off for the Cajuns as he missed both his free throws and Justin Miller would get the rebound for the win.
The Cajuns would start things off extremely well with an 18-0 run to take a 14 point lead with 13:20 left in the first half. However, Coastal Carolina would rally back late in the first half getting within three points with 1:44 to go.
The Cajuns will next travel to Boone when they take on Appalachian State (8-18, 3-12 Sun Belt) on Monday with tipoff set for 6 pm.
By the Numbers:
19: Number of points off of turnovers for the Cajuns. The first half was a strong one for the Ragin Cajuns as they capitalized off of the mistakes that Coastal Carolina made and had 16 of those points in the first twenty minutes.
20: Number of second chance points for the Cajuns. It was pretty close when you look at the comparison between these two teams, but getting second chance points is huge in games like this.
28: Cajuns three-point shooting percentage for the entire game. This may seem like a bad thing, but when you look at the first half stats, the Cajuns were able to get out to that big lead thanks to shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.
-Clint Domingue