LAFAYETTE, La. – The South Alabama men's basketball team got behind early and struggled to find stops on the defensive side throughout the night, falling 80-60 to Louisiana Saturday night in the Cajundome. South's losing streak extends to five games as they dropped to 10-13 overall and 3-8 in Sun Belt play, while Louisiana stays red-hot, improving to 15-8 on the season and 8-3 in the Sun Belt. 

Tyrell Jones led the Jags for the fourth straight game, finishing with 18 points, four assists, and three rebounds. Elijah Ormiston joined Jones in double figures, scoring 10 points, grabbing five rebounds, and swiping two steals. Judah Brown also contributed nine points, three rebounds, and a block. 

Louisiana dominated the boards, holding a 49-30 overall rebounding margin and an 18-4 advantage on the offensive glass. The Ragin Cajuns also had three players finish with a double-double with 15 or more points and ten or more rebounds. 

Game Facts (How it Happened) 

• South opened the game on a 7-4 run as Jones threaded a pass to Thomas Howell for a dunk before sinking a triple to give the Jags an advantage at the 16:59 mark. 

• After Ormiston connected on a three-pointer from the corner and Howell hit one of two free throws, the Ragin Cajuns would answer by holding the Jags scoreless for nearly six minutes to take a 19-11 lead with 8:57 left in the half. 

• Following two Brown free throws to stop the scoring drought, South jumped out on a 6-3 spurt off a Marcus Millender jumper and a Howell driving layup to trim the Cajuns lead to 22-17 with 7:41 on the clock. 

• Louisiana took back control and jumped out on a 12-6 run to stretch their lead to 34-23 with under three minutes remaining in the half. 

• The Ragin Cajuns would take a 40-28 advantage into the break. 

• Coming out of the half, Louisiana continued to click offensively, shooting out on a 9-3 run to take a 53-36 with 14:02 left in regulation. 

• Both teams would go scoreless for the next two minutes until the Jags fought back with a 9-2 run of their own highlighted by four points from Millender, a tough bucket down low from Tabe, and a deep three-pointer from Brown to make the score 57-45 with 9:55 left in the game. 

• That would be the closest South Alabama would get as Louisiana extended its lead back to 70-52 with under five minutes to play. 

• South continued to fight, but the Ragin Cajuns would walk away with the 80-60 victory. 

Notes

• Jones recorded his fourth straight game with over 16 points. He has now led the Jags in points in the last four games and assists in three of the last four. 
• Elijah Ormiston logged his fourth game in double figures in the last five contests. 
• Isiah Gaiter went scoreless for the first time this year. Gaiter has now missed double figures in scoring in the last four games. 
• South Alabama shot 40.4 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from three-point range, while the Cajuns shot 44.6 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from downtown
• Louisiana commanded the paint the entire night, outscoring the Jags 44-32 in the paint. They also totaled 18 second chance points compared to South Alabama's four. . 

Next Up 

South Alabama will head home to open a four-game home stand, starting with Georgia Southern on Wednesday, Feb.7 at 7 p.m. before taking on Northern Illinois in the MAC-SBC Challenge on Saturday, Feb.10 at 2 p.m. in the Mitchell Center. 

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