Ball State Pulls Away Late To Down Cajuns, 75-64

MUNCIE, Ind. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Men's Basketball team found the going tough Monday night, as Ball State outscored the Cajuns by nine points over the final 4:40 to take a 75-64 win in the SBC/MAC Challenge at Worthen Arena.

Davion Hill led the Cardinals' effort with 16 points, while Cam Denson came off the bench to score 14. Armoni Zeigler added 13 to help pace Ball State's (1-0) scoring effort.

Point guard Jamyron Keller hit four triples to lead the Cajuns (0-1) with 21 points. Jaxon Olvera had 13, while De'Vion Lavergne added 10.

The loss spoiled the head coaching debut of Louisiana head coach Quannas White, who took over the Cajuns' program after eight years as an assistant at Houston.

Ball State shot 52-percent from the floor and hit 8 of 15 shots from beyond the arc, but it was their ability to get to the free throw line that was the difference in the game, outscoring the Cajuns 19-5 from the charity stripe. Three Cajuns fouled out in the contest.

The Cajuns started slowly from the field, but wound up shooting 42.4 percent, including 9-for-38 (36 percent) on threes in the contest.

Lavergne and Keller hit triples in the last 13 seconds of the first half to give the Cajuns a 29-28 lead at the break.

Ball State took a 36-34 lead before Olvera hit a 3-pointer to give the Cajuns the lead, but despite four ties in the second half, never led again, with the last tie at 48 with 8:33 to play.

A Keller 3-pointer cut the lead to 58-56 with 4:40 left, but Denson scored a traditional three-point play and Mason Jones hit a three from the corner to pad the lead to eight with 3:33 remaining.

The MAC took a 9-4 advantage in games played on Monday. The Sun Belt schools will host 13 games in February.

Louisiana opens the home portion of its schedule on Friday (November 7) when it hosts in-state opponent Southeastern Louisiana as part of a doubleheader. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30.

Single-game tickets are available by visiting the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome, purchasing by visiting Account Manager. For more information call the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome at (337) 265-2104.

Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.

For the latest on Louisiana Men's Basketball, stay tuned to RaginCajuns.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (RaginCajunsMBB).

Ball State Pulls Away Late To Down Cajuns, 75-64

Next Event

Team Stats

Jamyron Keller

Jaxon Olvera

De'Vion Lavergne

Dariyus Woodson

Players Mentioned

Jamyron Keller

De'Vion Lavergne

Jaxon Olvera

Players Mentioned

Jamyron Keller

De'Vion Lavergne

Jaxon Olvera

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics