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For Immediate Release:
January 15, 2001 Merriweather Scores 21, But Louisiana-Lafayette Slips Past UTPA 72-71 in Men's Basketball LAFAYETTE, LA. -- Brian Merriweather scored 21 points, but an 11-3 Louisiana-Lafayette run helped the Ragin' Cajuns come from behind to defeat the University of Texas-Pan American 72-71 in men's basketball action Monday night at the Cajun Dome. The Cajuns (8-6) closed out the contest on an 11-3 run over the final 4:18 to win their sixth straight over the Broncs and third straight overall, despite hitting only one of their final eight free throws and finishing only 8-of-22 from the charity stripe in the game. With the close win, Louisiana-Lafayette has now won its last three home contests – versus UTPA and Sun Belt Conference rivals Florida International and New Mexico State – by a combined eight points. Lonnie Thomas led the Cajun offense with 19 points, including 14 in the second half, and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Darryl Robins came off the bench to provide a career-best 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and snared nine rebounds, including seven off the offensive glass. Blane Harmon added 16 points for Louisiana-Lafayette with four 3-pointers, while Orlando Butler continued to emerge from a midseason offensive slide with 12 points, his first back-to-back double-digit efforts of the year. Brian Merriweather led UTPA with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, while John Braxton added 19 points with five treys. Mire Chatman came off the Bronc bench to tally 13 points. The Cajuns took a 40-36 halftime lead into the locker room at the halftime break and continued to lead by four at 50-46 on Harmon’s three-pointer at the 14:54 mark. However, UTPA (7-11) exploded on a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes and capped the rally when Terrell Hill’s baseline jumper gave the Broncs a 60-52 lead, their largest of the night, at the 8:00 mark. Over the next four minutes, the Cajuns shaved only one point off that lead and continued to trail at 68-61 after Braxton’s three-pointer at the top of the key. That’s when the Cajuns took off on their game-ending run. Harmon drilled a three-pointer to cut the lead to four, and Robins brought the Cajuns to within a bucket after stealing a UTPA pass and taking it the length of the court with only 3:19 remaining. Butler gave the Cajuns their first lead since the 14:27 mark after nailing a driving jumper with two minutes left, but UTPA regained at the 1:24 mark when Marcus Quinn rebounded a Braxton miss. With 1:10 remaining, Thomas converted a basket inside and the Cajun defense held the rest of the way. |
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
UT Pan American vs Louisiana-Lafayette
1/15/01 7:05 p.m. at Lafayette, La. (Cajundome)
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VISITORS: UT Pan American 7-11
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 John Braxton........ f 6-11 5-7 2-4 2 1 3 3 19 1 3 0 2 28
21 Kyle Sanders........ f 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 5 4 0 2 0 0 23
22 Terrell Hill........ c 2-6 0-1 0-0 3 4 7 4 4 2 2 0 0 34
01 Kwasinda Curtis..... g 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 6 6 4 4 5 3 0 1 34
23 Brian Merriweather.. g 6-14 4-12 5-6 1 4 5 0 21 2 2 0 1 37
32 Mire Chatman........ 5-13 2-5 1-2 1 4 5 3 13 3 5 1 2 24
40 Marcus Quinn........ 3-5 0-0 0-2 2 2 4 3 6 0 0 0 0 19
52 DeFrance Gurley..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 26-57 11-26 8-14 12 24 36 23 71 13 17 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2% 2nd Half: 14-31 45.2% Game: 45.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 6-14 42.9% Game: 42.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-12 58.3% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 57.1% 5
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HOME TEAM: Louisiana-Lafayette 8-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
30 Lonnie Thomas....... f 8-21 0-0 3-8 6 3 9 4 19 2 5 1 0 38
52 Reggie DeGray....... f 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 2 1 0 1 9
42 Brett Smith......... c 2-3 0-0 0-1 2 1 3 3 4 0 1 0 0 15
05 Kenneth Lawrence.... g 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 2 1 2 0 1 15
22 Blane Harmon........ g 6-11 4-8 0-0 1 4 5 1 16 4 1 0 0 36
01 Jarret Evans........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 5 5 1 0 2 1 0 0 21
21 Laurie Bridges...... 2-2 0-0 0-2 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 6
23 Orlando Butler...... 4-12 0-5 4-6 1 2 3 1 12 7 2 0 3 33
32 Darryl Robins....... 6-8 0-0 1-5 7 2 9 0 13 1 0 1 1 22
55 Robert Davis........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 5
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 30-66 4-14 8-22 21 20 41 15 72 19 13 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-34 50.0% 2nd Half: 13-32 40.6% Game: 45.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 28.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 4-13 30.8% Game: 36.4% 5
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Officials: Curtis Shaw, Mark Whitehead, J.B. Caldwell
Technical fouls: UT Pan American-, TEAM. Louisiana-Lafayette-, TEAM
3.
Attendance: 3824
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
UT Pan American............... 36 35 - 71
Louisiana-Lafayette........... 40 32 - 72