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Men’s Basketball: Getting stronger – Road-tested Cajuns delivered big in clutch moments for road winKevin Foote, The Advertiser, December 5, 2012 The long two-city trip to Houston and Boise, Idaho, filled with airport mishaps and a lost wallet wasn’t a lot of fun for the young UL Ragin’ Cajun basketball team. A week later, there was another crazy two-city trip to Las Cruces, N.M., and then to Lansing, Mich., with very little sleep and an extra night’s stay due to more traveling shenanigans. That wasn’t a lot of fun either. Even the 6 1/2-hour drive to Denton, Texas, was more rushed than usual due to an attempt to not miss any classes on Friday after missing Monday with the air travel chaos. Somehow through all the troubles, UL coach Bob Marlin is hoping his young basketball team has developed mental toughness — the kind that allows them to remain steady down the stretch in close games. Time will tell on that, but something certainly propelled the Cajuns in Saturday’s 80-76 road win over North Texas. "Sure, I think that helps," Marlin said. "Those experiences make you tougher." Saturday’s game wasn’t just any road win. First, it was about a North Texas team that was picked to win its division. Secondly, it wasn’t even. It wasn’t just one of those nights when UL just happened to shoot way better than its opponent. It was a game with 15 ties and 15 lead changes and 19 turnovers that had to be overcome — all by a team that was playing short-handed with Braylon Lazare (eye infection), Cornell Barnett (oral surgery) and Alan-Michael Thompson (suspension) not making the trip. Making matters worse, Kevin Brown suffered a broken foot during the game. "I told the team during a time-out that we had to start protecting the basketball," Marlin said. "I told them, ‘Let’s not lose this game because we can’t protect the ball.’ Fortunately, we shot it well and we made our free throws down the stretch. We got good shots and made the plays at the right moments." As a team, the Cajuns (now 3-5) shot 49.1 percent from the floor, 50 percent from 3-point land and 734.1 at the line. Individually, Shawn Long and Bryant Mbamalu were on fire. Long hit 9 of 13 shots overall, while Mbamalu was 6-of-6 shooting overall, including 5-of-5 shooting from behind the arc for 19 points. Long scored 27 points with five rebounds in 29 minutes. "Shawn can really shoot the basketball," Marlin said. "He might shoot a 3 here and there that we don’t want, but we want him shooting the 3." As a result of being shorthanded, Aaron LeBlanc played 10 minutes and even made a 3-pointer to help in the win. Freshman Kasey Shepherd played 15 minutes and Josh Soto played 10. Steven Wronkoski wasn’t one of the hot hands, making on 2 of 7 shots but nailed a 3-pointer down the stretch for the lead late. The win was extra special for UL assistant coach Shawn Forrest, who coached at North Texas the last four years under current LSU head coach Johnny Jones. "The guys were very excited for him (Forrest)," Marlin said. "They knew that game was a little extra special for coach Forrest. He interviewed for that job. It would have been for me too. That’s the kind of team we have." After the win, Marlin said he split the game-ball three ways — all three getting rousing ovations from the team — with a third going to Forrest, Wronkoski for the big shot and LeBlanc for his unexpected contribution and big 3-pointer off the bench. "It was a lot of fun in the lockerroom after the game," Marlin said. Now as the team takes the week off taking final exams and somewhat preparing for Saturday’s next road challenge at McNeese State, reality sets in that Brown won’t be available for an extended period. That means that Shepherd and Soto will need to carry an increased burden. Shepherd has battled the defensive end early on, while Soto has only been eligible for two games and is just getting started. "Coach (Kevin) Johnson was just commenting the other day how that Kasey has improved defensively," Marlin said. "(Offensively) He’s trying so hard to do the right thing that I think it’s negating his ability on the floor." Marlin said the idea is to get Shepherd on the floor as a shooting guard to play along side sophomore point guard Elfrid Payton. "And Josh can score," Marlin said. "That’s going to come. We have confidence in Josh." Being a defensive-minded coach, Marlin also praised 6-5 sophomore forward Elridge Moore for his work in the paint on Tony Mitchell, who had three points and four rebounds before fouling out. Moore also had nine points and three rebounds in 39 minutes. "Elridge just leaned on him and did a super job," he said. ![]()
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