Cajun Offense Struggles in Defeat at ULM

MONROE, Louisiana – The Louisiana men’s basketball team couldn’t get the offense going Thursday night at ULM. The Ragin’ Cajuns were held to 29.7 percent shooting in the second half and fell to the Warhawks in a defensive battle, 66-59, at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

Hosana Kitenge led the offense with 16 points along with nine rebounds and three assists. Kobe Julien added 13 points while Brandon Hardy matched a career-high 13 points. Joe Charles was a force on the boards, grabbing 16.

Louisiana opened the scoring with a three from the hand of Charles but the Warhawks responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead. Kitenge and Hardy sparked an 8-0 run by the Cajuns, with each scoring a pair of buckets, to take an 18-13 lead.

The home side would battle back to tie the score, but a layup by Hardy followed by a three-point play by Michael Thomas saw the Cajuns lead by five at the under-eight media timeout. The Warhawk offense started to heat up, going on a 13-2 run to take a six-point lead with less than two minutes left in the half. Julien traded a Warhawk free throw with a layup before Charles connected again on a three to send the game into the locker rooms with the Cajuns trailing 32-30.

Kentrell Garnett opened the second half with a three-point play to retake the lead. A 16-4 Warhawk run over the next five-plus minutes saw them jump ahead 48-37. Trailing by 10 with 3:15 to play, Louisiana found some offense to climb back into the game.

Garnett got things going with a layup and Kitenge followed with a free throw. Julien made a layup and Garnett hit another layup off a steal to make it 59-56 with 1:48 to go. Louisiana couldn’t complete the comeback, making just one field goal the rest of the way while the home side made their last five free throws to hold on.

Louisiana heads to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for their final road contest of the regular season against Southern Miss.

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