UTA Falls To UL Lafayette

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ARLINGTON, Texas – UT Arlington lost its third straight Sun Belt Conference game, falling 92-89 to UL Lafayette on Thursday night at College Park Center.

The Mavericks dropped to 9-13 overall and 4-6 in league play. The Rajin’ Cajuns (14-9, 5-5) swept the two-game season series from UTA.

UL Lafayette raced out to a 25-point lead in the first half and never looked back despite the Mavericks getting the deficit into single digits on several occasions. The Mavericks finished with a flurry to get within 91-89 with 1.8 seconds left on junior guard Jamel Outler’s goal-tended 3-pointer.

UL Lafayette Xavian Rimmer made a free throw with 1.1 seconds left and missed the second. The ball went out of bounds as time expired.

Junior guard Lonnie McClanahan scored a career-high 31 for the Mavericks, besting the 28 he scored last week at Western Kentucky, and grabbed 11 rebounds. Outler added 19 points and senior guard Reger Dowell scored 11. Senior forward Brandon Edwards had 14 rebounds and nine points.

“There were stretches for four or five minutes where our guys stopped playing with intensity,” UT Arlington coach Scott Cross said. “We did continue to fight. We just have to find a way to get better.”

Shawn Long paced UL Lafayette with 31 points, while Elfrid Payton had 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Rajin’ Cajuns shot 51.6 percent and outrebounded UTA 41-40.

The Cajuns began to pull away early as turnovers began to pile up for UTA. The Mavericks found themselves down 28-13 midway through the first half, forcing a timeout from Cross.

Louisiana continued to roll. The Cajuns pushed their lead beyond points and went into halftime up 49-34. The Mavericks did finish the half with a 19-9 run.

UTA was shooting 41.7 percent at the break thanks to the late surge. McClanahan didn’t sit in the first half and had 17 points.

The Mavericks carried the momentum into the second half, pulling with 51-43 with a 9-2 spurt. Louisiana responded and grew the lead back up to 20 (70-50) with 12:42 remaining.

UT Arlington is off for a week before traveling to UL Monroe on Feb. 13. The Mavericks beat ULM 83-76 in overtime on Jan. 9.

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