LAFAYETTE, La. – Holding a five-point lead with a couple minutes remaining, the UT Arlington men's basketball team couldn't complete what would have been an important road win as Louisiana closed the game on a 7-0 run to knock off the Mavericks, 76-74, on Senior Day Monday inside the Cajundome.
 
UTA built a 74-69 lead with just over 2 minutes left following a quick 5-0 spurt in a 22-second stretch. However, playing likely his final game in Lafayette, Ragin' Cajuns senior guard Cedric Russell scored five of the final seven points – including the game-winning free throws with 9 seconds remaining – to propel Louisiana to the win.
 
The Mavs had a chance to force overtime, or win it in regulation following Russell's free throws, but Shahada Wells' contested effort at the rim just before the buzzer sounded had just a little too much muscle.
 
Wells reached double-figure points for the 21st time in 22 opportunities this year with a team-high 19 points, Sam Griffin tallied 16 points and Patrick Mwamba registered 14 points for the Mavs, who were playing their first game in nine days.
 
Entering the game, the spotlight was on Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu's blocking acumen, but the redshirt sophomore delivered his first double-double with a career-high 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds. He became the 13th-different Maverick this season to score double figures in a game – tying UTA with Murray State and Abilene Christian for the most in the nation.
 
After missing the last 13 games with a leg injury, Sun Belt Preseason Second Team selection David Azore returned to the UTA lineup on Monday. The redshirt junior – who was averaging 11.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in eight games prior to the injury – started the contest and scored eight points, grabbed six rebounds and recorded three steals.
 
With the loss, UTA falls to 7-8 (.467) in conference play and remains in 4th place in the Sun Belt West Division. Louisiana, meanwhile, improves to 9-6 (.600) and moves into 2nd place. Texas State (10-3, .769) remains in 1st place following a road win at Arkansas State Monday night. The Red Wolves drop to 7-6 (.538) and fall into 3rd place. Little Rock (6-10, .375) and ULM (5-11, .313) conclude the West Division standings.
 
All six teams in the West Division have two scheduled games remaining this coming Friday and Saturday to conclude the regular season. The Sun Belt Tournament – which will feature all 12 teams in the league with the top-2 in each division receiving a 1st-round bye – gets underway on Mar. 5 in Pensacola leading into the title game on Mar. 8.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Louisiana improves to 15-7 overall, while UTA drops its third-straight game to fall to 11-12 on the year.
• UTA shot 40 percent from the floor (27-68), while Louisiana shot 41 percent (23-56).
• After holding a 21-20 rebounding edge in the 1st half which resulted in an 11-7 advantage in 2nd-chance points, UTA was out-rebounded in the 2nd half, 23-15, and faced a 14-6 deficit in 2nd-chance points.
• The Mavs committed just seven turnovers – their 2nd-fewest in a game this year (five vs. Oklahoma State).
• Mwamba secured seven rebounds, while Wells issued four assists and had three steals.
• Russell poured in a game-high 26 points, 16 of which came in the 2nd half. Dou Gueye added 18 for the Cajuns, who finished with a 43-36 rebounding edge.
• After going 6-15 (40 percent) from 3-point range in the 1st half, UTA connected on just 2-8 (25 percent) in the closing 20 minutes.
• The game featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties.
• The Mavs used their ninth-different starting lineup: Azore, Wells, Nicolas Elame, Mwamba and Akobundu-Ehiogu.

PLAY-BY-PLAY SUMMARY
A back-and-forth 1st half featured seven ties and seven lead changes. Neither team led by more than five points, both sides shot 37 percent from the floor and UTA held a 37-34 lead at halftime thanks to 11 points from Mwamba and a late surge from the 3-point line.
 
Trailing 32-28 with just over three minutes remaining in the half, UTA finished the stanza going 3-of-4 from 3-point range to close on a 9-2 run and take their first intermission lead since Jan. 29 against Arkansas State.
 
The Mavs came out of the locker room on a torrid pace, and quickly expanded their lead to double figures for the first time at 55-45, just six minutes into the period, following a four-point play by Griffin and dunk by Akobundu-Ehiogu.
 
The advantage grew to as much as 11 on multiple occasions, the last of which came inside of 12 minutes to play, 60-49, but Louisiana refused to go quietly and responded with an 8-0 run in 90 seconds to pull within 60-57 and prompt a UTA timeout with 9:30 left.
 
UTA had an answer and pushed their cushion back to six, 65-59, with seven minutes showing, but the Cajuns fought back and eventually took a 68-67 lead with four minutes left before the contest was tied at 69-69 setting up the final few minutes.
 
THIS AND THAT

• UTA and Louisiana were originally scheduled to play this past Friday and Saturday, but those contests were postponed due to a multitude of factors associated with the record-breaking winter weather. The other game from last weekend will be canceled.
• Lazaro Rojas (4.4 points, 3.3 rebounds) missed his 12th-consecutive game with a leg injury.
• With the win, Louisiana now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with UTA as the Cajuns claimed two of the three meetings this year.
• This was the first game of the season on a Monday for the Mavs; the only day of the week they have not played a game this year is Sunday.
• This was just the second loss for UTA when leading at the half this year (8-2; Arkansas State on Jan. 29).
• The only time Wells has not scored at least 10 points in a game this year came when he was battling a foot injury at Tulsa and played a season-low nine minutes and tallying three points.

NEXT UP
UTA concludes its regular season with a pair of home contests against Arkansas State next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 26 and 27).
 
FOLLOW ALONG
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