Men’s Basketball: UL secures SBC West tie with blowout win

Men’s Basketball: UL secures SBC West tie with blowout win

Men’s Basketball: UL secures SBC West tie with blowout win

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • February 27, 2011

MONROE — The regular season concluded in historic fashion for the UL men’s basketball in front of a sparse crowd in northeast Louisiana.

 

Oh, but it was still a sweet Saturday night for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Adding another chapter to perhaps the most overlooked in-season turnaround in college basketball, UL beat UL Monroe 61-46 to earn a share of the Sun Belt’s West Division title and a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The Cajuns (14-14, 11-5 Sun Belt) have now won 11 consecutive games, the second-longest active streak in the nation behind George Mason (15 games). To top it off, UL also set a school record with its 10th straight Sun Belt victory.

"I’m really proud of my guys," said first-year UL coach Bob Marlin, whose squad was picked to finish fourth in the West Division this season. "To go from 3-14 to 14-14 is a pretty good story."

Wait. There’s more.

The 11-game winning streak is tied for the second longest in school history, most recently accomplished in 1973. It’s also the second West Division co-championship for the Cajuns since the 2007-08 season.

After the win, Cajun players walked across the court at Fant-Ewing Coliseum and sang the school’s fight song with a small but loyal group of die-hard fans that made the trip to Monroe. University president Dr. E. Joseph Savoie was in that crowd.

Freshman forward J.J. Thomas, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week, logged his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Josh Brown added 12 points and seven rebounds, and La’Ryan Gary had 11 points to help the Cajuns avoid a letdown after an emotional Senior Night win over Denver on Thursday.

This time, UL spoiled Senior Night for ULM (7-23, 2-14) to knock off its in-state conference foe for the second time this season. Fred Brown was the lone Warhawk to score in double figures with 13 points.

"It’s a real good feeling right now," Thomas said. "We got together before the game and said we’re playing for a championship, so we came in here really focused. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game even if they didn’t have a good record.