EDINBURG – The University of Louisiana-Lafayette shot nearly 50% from the field and forced 22 turnovers on its way to an 84-71 win over the University of Texas-Pan American Monday night in men’s basketball action at the UTPA Fieldhouse.

Four Ragin’ Cajun players scored in double figures, led by Reggie DeGray with 22 points.  Orlando Butler and Lonnie Thomas added 14 points and Blane Harmon had 10.  Brian Merriweather led a quartet of Broncs in double figures with 15 points.  Carlos Haywood had a season high 13 points, Matt Palmquist had 12 and John Braxton had 11.  Braxton had a solid overall game with eight rebounds and five assists, both team highs.

The Ragin Cajuns took control of the game midway through the first half with a 12-4 run that built the lead to 30-20.  The lead would grow to as much as 14 points before ULL settled for a 43-31 edge at the break.  Merriweather, who had just four points at the half, caught fire early on in the second half and ignited a UTPA rally.  Merriweather scored 11 points over a 3:26 period to help the Broncs cut the lead to eight points at the 11:51 mark.  But that was as close as UTPA would get the rest of the way.

“Our guys were not as fresh as they could have been tonight,” said UTPA Coach Bob Hoffman.  “They (Louisiana-Lafayette) got all kinds of offensive rebounds.  They were very athletic.”

The Broncs shot 44.9% from the field (22-49), but just 21.4% from three-point range (3-14).  The Broncs also committed 22 turnovers, their highest total in six games.  ULL shot 49.2% (32-65) from the field, including 47.4% from three point range (9-19), including several key treys that snuffed out Bronc rallies.

With the win Louisiana-Lafayette improved to 10-5 on the season, while UTPA fell to 5-9.  The Broncs will return to action on Thursday, January 10th, when they host St. Mary’s at the UTPA Fieldhouse at 7:30 p.m.  Louisiana Lafayette will host Louisiana Tech in its next action on Jan. 15th in Lafayette at 7:05 p.m.

Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns at UT-Pan American Broncs
UTPA Fieldhouse
January 10, 2000

Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (10-5)

No. Name                   FG  FGA  3FG 3FGA  FT  FTA  OF DE TOT  PF  TP  A   TO BLK S  MIN
30  Lonnie Thomas, f       7   15   0   0     0   7    5  4  9    4   14  1   1  1   1  22
34  Reggie DeGray, f       7   8    3   3     5   8    0  4  4    3   22  3   2  1   2  36
42  Brett Smith, c         0   3    0   0     0   0    1  2  3    1   0   0   0  0   1  13
15  Billy Jones, g         1   2    0   0     3   4    1  2  3    2   5   1   3  0   1  18
22  Blane Harmon, g        3   9    1   4     3   6    1  1  2    3   10  4   1  0   2  25
11  Kenneth Lawrence       0   4    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    2   0   7   4  0   2  26
23  Orlando Butler         6   11   2   6     0   0    2  1  3    1   14  1   2  0   0  20
31  Robert Jupiter         0   1    0   1     0   0    1  0  1    1   0   0   0  0   0  2
32  Darryl Robins          2   3    0   0     0   0    2  1  3    0   4   1   0  0   1  13
33  Shea Whiting           3   5    0   1     0   0    0  2  2    5   6   1   1  1   2  12
35  Jarret Evans           3   4    3   4     0   0    1  2  3    2   9   1   1  0   2  14
41  Derrick Warren         0   0    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    0   0   0   0  0   0  1
    Team                                               2  2  4                             
    Totals                 32  65   9   19    11  25   16 21 37   24  84  20  15 3   14 200

Total FG% 1st Half: 18-39  .462   2nd Half: 14-26   .538   Game: .492     Deadball
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-12   .500   2nd Half: 3-7     .429   Game: .474     Rebounds
F Throw% 1st Half:  1-3    .333   2nd Half: 10-22   .455   Game: .440     6

UT-Pan American Broncs (5-9)

No. Name                   FG  FGA  3FG 3FGA  FT  FTA  OF DE TOT  PF  TP  A   TO BLK S  MIN
11  John Braxton, f        3   6    0   2     5   5    3  5  8    3   11  5   3  0   0  36
21  Kyle Sanders, f        4   7    0   0     0   0    2  2  4    4   8   0   1  0   0  34
12  Gary Booker, c         5   8    0   0     2   6    1  5  6    1   12  1   2  2   1  29
05  Kwasinda Curtis, g     3   7    0   1     1   1    1  1  2    3   7   2   4  0   1  31
23  Brian Merriweather, g  4   13   3   9     4   4    0  1  1    0   15  1   4  1   3  30
01  Bernard Preston        0   0    0   0     0   0    0  0  0    2   0   0   0  0   0  1
03  Gabe Rhoads            1   2    0   1     0   0    0  0  0    0   2   0   1  0   0  4
10  Carlos Haywood         2   3    0   0     9   9    2  2  4    3   13  1   5  0   3  20
15  Watara Banks           0   2    0   0     1   4    0  2  2    4   1   0   0  0   0  10
33  Matt Palmquist         0   1    0   1     2   2    0  0  0    1   2   0   2  0   1  5
    Team                                               1  7  8                             
    Totals                 22  49   3   14    24  31   10 25 35   21  71  10  22 3   9  200

Total FG% 1st Half: 9-18   .500   2nd Half: 13-31   .419   Game: .449     Deadball
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-4    .000   2nd Half: 3-10    .300   Game: .214     Rebounds
F Throw% 1st Half:  13-15  .867   2nd Half: 11-16   .688   Game: .774     3

Officials: David Stevens, Rusty Hicks, Lawrence Britton

Technical Fouls: None
Attendance: 2,723

Score by Periods        1st   2nd   Final
Louisiana-Lafayette     43    41    84
UTPA                    31    40    71