Cajuns Fight Back For Win Over ETSU 82-80

Freshman Chris Gradnigo forward capped off a solid week of play, leading the Cajuns with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Gradnigo finished with 52 points in three games in the tournament.

The Cajuns jumped out early on ETSU on the hot shooting of Freshmen Travis Bureau and Chris Gradnigo hitting a pair of triples to give Louisiana a six-point lead,31-25. The Cajuns would then go on a 15-0 run to take a commading 15-point lead,40-25, before ETSU cut the deficit to 10 points at half,44-34.

The Ragin'Cajuns shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, connecting on 13-of-26 attempts, while hitting 56.3 percent of its three-point attempts (9-of-16). The Cajuns also shot 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the free throw line. Louisiana held ETSU to 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the field in the first half.

Bureau led all scorers with 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including four three-pointers. Bureau had made his first four shots before missing his last three attempts. Gradnigo chipped in 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Gary added eight. In the first half, Louisiana recorded an assist on each of its 13 made baskets.

But once again, the Cajuns came out the second half of a game with cold shooting and allowed a 24-0 run by East Tennessee State gave the Bucs a 58-49 lead with 11:11 remaining in the second half. Louisiana broke ETSU’s run on a David Dees free throw, cutting the Bucs lead to 58-50.

Louisiana later tied the game at 68-68 and had an opportunity to win it in regulation, but the Cajuns were unable to connect on a shot as time expired.

Elijah Millsap gave Louisiana its first lead of overtime, 73-72, with a little more than two minutes remaining on the clock. Pigram then connected on two freebies to give ETSU a one-point edge, 74-73. That lead wouldn’t last as Gradnigo nailed a trey for a 76-74 UL edge.

Leading by one, Daigle drained a 25-footer for an 81-77 Cajuns lead. Gradnigo added a freebie with nine seconds remaining to help seal the win.