If this were a dream, the game would have had the Pioneers winning by 100 points, and then all four seniors would parade around the court on teammates’ shoulders with blaring triumphant music.
Alas, it is not a dream but the grim reality of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns played the role of spoiler Monday night at Magness Arena, defeating the Pioneers 74-60 in Sun Belt Conference action.
After honoring their four seniors on the squad with a pre-game ceremony, all four DU seniors started the game. Guards Phillip Heath and Tyrone Turner along with forwards Sherman Rochell and Wahhab Carter came onto the floor for the final time.
The Pioneers looked jittery on their first possession, as Turner turned the ball over and the Cajuns, (17-9, 10-4 SBC), capitalized on a mid-range jump shot by Emanuel Washington.
Quickly, however, the Pioneers would settle down and find their groove.
The Pioneer defense looked reminiscent to that of the 88-89 Detroit Pistons, as their defense enabled them to control the tempo of the contest. The Pioneers held the Cajuns to a mere 13.6 percent (3-22) over the course of the first 12:30 of play.
As it has happened time and again this season for the Pioneers at the offensive end, they had difficulty putting up points. Despite their frenetic-style defense that pestered the Cajuns, the visitors found themselves only down by three, 15-12, with just a little over eight minutes left in the first half.
Erik Benzel was rewarded after he stole the ball from the Cajun’s Kenneth Lawrence, and drilled a long-range three pointer giving the Pioneers their largest lead of the first half, 22-16.
Tthe Cajuns put the heat on.
Over the next few minutes of play, the Cajuns displayed why they are a force to be reckoned with in the mighty Sun Belt Conference. Led by their big man Michael Southall (game-high 26 points, 11 rebounds) who proved to be too much for the Pioneer big men, the Cajuns place a 10-2 run.
After Pioneer Leslie Richardson missed a three point shot attempt, the ensuing play had Southall finding a wide-open Antoine Landry (20 points) behind the three-point arc, who then drilled the shot giving the Cajuns their first lead of the game, 26-24.
In the waning moments of the first half, the three-point shot was the only offense the Pioneers were able to execute. A pair of back-to-back threes by sophomore Ryan Goral and the sharp shooting of Pratt, left the Pioneers in a 36-34 lead.
The Pioneers kept the Cajuns at bay at the beginning of the second half. A steal by Benzel that converted into a lay-up for Rochell gave the Pioneers a 43-39 lead with just over 14 minutes remaining.
Whomever it was that said defense wins ballgames has clearly never seen the Cajuns play ball before. They shot a blistering 59 percent in the second half, and began to pull away from the Pioneers.
Coupled with the Cajuns hot-shooting, the Pioneers began to get beat time and time again off the boards, giving the visitors lay-up after uncontested lay-up. The Pioneers were out-rebounded 39 to 24, with Southall doing most of the damage and getting a little help from his teammates.
Cajun’s Darryl Robbins hauled in nine rebounds of his own.
“I thought we came out with a great deal of intensity in the first half,” DU head coach Terry Carroll said after the game. “But in the second half, their size and strength took over, and we bailed them out with fouls and letting them shoot free throws.”
The Cajuns went to the charity stripe 20 times in the second half, whereas the Pioneers went only nine times.
A foul by Pratt with just over eight minutes to play sent Laurie bridges to the free throw line, and he swished both of them giving the Cajuns the lead 51-50.
They would never look back.
Over the next five minutes the Cajuns would blow the game wide open with an 18-4 run, which was capped off by a jumper by Landry that gave the Cajuns a 69-54 advantage.
When the horn sounded, the Pioneers (8-18, 3-11 SBC) trudged off to the locker room with yet another loss on their shoulders.
