NEW ORLEANS -- Once the University of Arkansas at Little Rock lost the lead it could never get it back.
The 10th-seeded Trojans led seventh-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette 31-30 at halftime, but surrendered it on the first possession of the second half Wednesday night. UALR trailed the rest of way as its season ended in a 78-71 loss in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Lakefront Arena.
UALR, the defending tournament champion, finished 15-17 after losing to the Ragin' Cajuns for the third time. UL-Lafayette won 69-52 on Jan. 2 in Little Rock and 88-82 on Jan. 28 in Lafayette.
The Ragin' Cajuns (21-11), who won their seventh consecutive game, will meet No. 2 seed Georgia State in the quarterfinals at 5 p.m. Friday.
UALR's biggest lead was three points during a first half in which the lead changed hands nine times. The Ragin' Cajuns hung tight despite making 1-of-10 three-pointers.
"We said, "We've got the ball and we're going to score and get the lead and we're not going to give it up,' " UL-Lafayette Coach Bob Marlin said. "And that's what happened."
UL-Lafayette's Justin Miller made two free throws 17 seconds into the second half. He also made the first field goal of the half, combining with Jay Wright's nine points to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 55-45 lead.
"They revved up their defense a little bit," Trojans guard Marcus Johnson Jr. said. "They were a little more physical coming out in the first few minutes [of the second half]."
UALR cut the deficit to four on five different occasions, but could never get closer despite UL-Lafayette going more than seven minutes without making a field goal.
"I think they wore us down as the game went along," said Trojans Coach Wes Flanigan.
The Cajuns made 27 of 31 free throws in the second half, including 15 consecutive during one stretch, and finished 32 of 38 (84.2 percent).
"The free throws were huge," Marlin said.
Wright made 12 of 13 free throws and led UL-Lafayette with 24 points. Miller scored 20 points, Bryce Washington had 12 and Johnathan Stove chipped in 11.
"This is a tournament game," Wright said. "It's going to be up and down and get kind of ugly. You've got to make your free throws. That's what it comes down to."
Johnson led the Trojans with 14 points and Kemy Osse scored 13. They are two of the six seniors who saw their careers end in much different fashion than last year's run to the tournament title, which was followed by a victory against Purdue in the first round of the NCAA tournament before a loss to Iowa State.
"This is a tough loss and I feel bad for the six seniors," said Flanigan. "This is March and that means survive and advance. We weren't good enough."
UALR was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt, but finished 10th with a 6-12 record.Things were looking up late as the Trojans won two of their last three regular-season games.
"The last month, month and a half the guys were competing in practice every day and getting better," Flanigan said. "We finished the season playing our best defense and we were trying to find ourselves on offense, but turnovers plagued us all season."
Flanigan said the seniors "made us believe this program can be special" by the success the team had last season.
"We've got to continue to push to move this program forward," he said. "You're always looking for a way to get better. It's a lot different and there's a lot of responsibility being a head coach for the first time.
"I'll sit back and think a lot. I wouldn't say I was great the first year. I don't think anybody is. It was a learning experience. It's a thin line between winning and losing and we came up short in a lot of games."
Sports on 03/09/2017