Photo by Dawson Eiserloh; Logos via sportslogos.net
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team fell 75-61 to the Akron Zips on Monday night inside the Cajundome. The Sun Belt-MAC Challenge contest was the season opener for both squads, and the Zips led wire-to-wire.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Akron, who won the MAC Tournament a year ago and made the NCAA Tournament, got off to a hot start. They scored the game’s first eight points.
Throughout the first half, the Zips continued to lead and stretched the advantage to double-figures early.
The Cajuns did make a run in the middle of the half, cutting the deficit to four at 26-22. However, Akron made another run of their own to get the lead back to a comfortable margin. By the half, Akron led by 17 at 46-29. Jamyron Keller had 13 at the half to lead all scorers, while Ty Pence led Akron with 12. The biggest halftime stat was Akron’s 54% shooting compared to Louisiana’s 25%.
Early in the second half, UL started to make a charge with back-to-back threes by Trent Middleton Jr. However, the Zips again had an answer. This time, Tahj Staveskie made a couple of triples of his own.
Inside of seven minutes to play, a Louisiana run was finally sustained long enough to get the lead back into single digits. Dani Pounds made a triple to get it down to a seven-point advantage at 64-57.
The last run was thwarted by the Zips, who closed things out for a 75-61 win. Ty Pence led the scoring for Akron with 19.
BIG NUMBER: 46
The Cajuns gave up 46 first-half points, putting them behind the eight ball. The easy shots they allowed were a problem and prevented a big comeback.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jamyron Keller
Keller was the leader for the Cajuns. He scored a game-high 26 points. Additionally, he added four assists and two rebounds.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will remain home and play host to Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Friday night at 7:00 PM inside the Cajundome.
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