Trojans stun Ragin’ Cajuns on Senior Night in overtime, 72-61

LAFAYETTE – Ryan Pippins scored 10 of his team-high 19 points in overtime and led four players in double figures as Little Rock stunned the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team in overtime, 72-61, in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday at the Cajundome.

Oliver Black posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Kris Bankston added 14 points and Cameron Corcoran 10 as Little Rock (7-24, 4-14 SBC) made 5 of 6 shots in overtime, including a pair of 3-pointers by Pippins.

Louisiana (26-5, 16-2 SBC), which will be the top seed in next week’s Sun Belt Conference Championships in New Orleans and will face the winner of No. 8-seeded Coastal Carolina and No. 9-seeded Texas State on Friday at 11:30 a.m., held a 47-37 lead after a free throw by Cedric Russell with 7:59 remaining before the Trojans chipped away at the lead.

The Trojans trailed 51-48 with 2:28 remaining after a bucket by Marcus Stroman before a bucket by K.J. Gilmore and 3-pointer by Pippins gave Little Rock a 53-51 lead with 13 seconds remaining.

Louisiana forced overtime as Malik Marquetti sank a pair of free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining, but Little Rock scored the first five points in the extra stanza as Bankston drove the lane for a dunk and Pippins responded with a 3-pointer from the left corner.

The Ragin’ Cajuns, who shot 2-for-13 from the floor and 1-for-10 from behind the 3-point arc in overtime, closed the gap to 63-61 when Bryce Washington converted on a three-point play with 1:51 remaining, but Louisiana missed its last six shots – all from behind the 3-point line – as Little Rock closed out the game with a 9-0 run over the final 1:27.

Frank Bartley and JaKeenan Gant scored 17 points each to lead Louisiana, which shot 19-for-58 (32.8 percent) from the floor, 6-for-31 (19.4 percent) from behind the 3-point line and 17-for-26 (65.4 percent) from the free throw line.

Washington added seven points and grabbed 14 rebounds to increase his career total to 1,077 and move past former Ragin’ Cajun Roy Ebron (1,064, 1970-73) into second-place on the school’s all-time list. Gant grabbed five rebounds and blocked a career-high seven shots for Louisiana while Stroman grabbed five boards and handed out eight assists.