Men’s Basketball: Wronkoski, Long propel Cajuns

Staff Reports, The Advertiser, December 2, 2012

DENTON, Texas — Freshman Steven Wronkoski’s 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:12 remaining provided the 15th and final lead change, giving the UL Ragin’ Cajuns the lead for good. Then the Cajuns made seven of eight free throws in the final 15 seconds to capture a hard fought 80-76 win in a Sun Belt West battle with North Texas here Saturday evening at The Super Pit. Wronkoski’s lone trey of the night pulled UL (3-5, 1-1 Sun Belt) ahead 73-71. Following back to-back defensive stops which preserved the lead, Elfrid Payton, Shawn Long and Bryant Mbam­alu connected on six free throw attempts to put away the Mean Green (3-5, 0-1 Sun Belt) spoiling the hosts final Sun Belt Conference opener.

A three-point play from Chris Jones with four seconds left pulled the Mean Green within one, 77-76. Mbamalu stepped to the line for the first time in the contest, with 3.4 showing, and drained both shots.

Elridge Moore cap­tured a steal on the length-of-the-court in­bounds pass by the Mean Green and hit one of two free throw tries for the final margin.

In a classic Cajuns-Mean Green battle, there were 15 ties and 15 lead changes. And for the fourth straight meeting the final margin was four points or less.