Box Score

For the second game in a row it was a freshman that came up big in the clutch for the Louisiana College men, leading them to their second straight conference win, and keeping their hopes of making the ASC tournament alive.  For the second time in a row Taylan Grogan poured in 29 points, as the Wildcats took down the UT Tyler Patriots 72-66 on Saturday afternoon at H.O. West Fieldhouse. The Wildcats victory combined with the loss by ETBU puts LC 2.0 games behind the Tigers for the final tournament spot in the East with three conference games remaining. The Wildcats can cut that down to one game on Monday night as they host the rival Tigers at 7pm for "Fill the Fieldhouse".

Stingy defense and a methodical offense was once again the name of the game for the Wildcats against the number two team in the ASC East coming into Saturday's game. It took nearly seven minutes for either team to reach double digits, when a Patriot layup at the 13:16 mark of the first half made the score 11-8 for the visitors. The Wildcats quickly took the lead back on a layup from Steve Evans and a 3-pointer from Taylan Grogan.

The teams traded baskets through the majority of the next 10 minutes of play, until the game turned into a de facto free throw shooting contest, thanks to the number of fouls called on both teams. Twenty-four total fouls and 28 combined free throw in the first half, with 14 trips to the foul line coming in the final 4:13 of the half. The Wildcats have struggled from the line the entire season and Saturday was no different with LC going 8-for-12 from the line in the half compared to Tyler's 13-of-16 performance. Depite the issues they had shooting the free shots the Wildcats made four of their final five attempts in the half with Torrian Lee sinking all three attempts after being fouled with 0.5 seconds left on the game clock. The trio of shots pulled LC within two at the break at 32-30, finishing a low scoring half. 

The Wildcats tied the game on the first possession of the second half on a layup by Raheem Regis, and resumed the back and forth battle through the rest of the game. Trailing through most of the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Wildcats rallied and erased a four point deficit, sparked by the loss of Steve Evans to an injury. They forced back-to-back turnovers and Grogan knocked down a three, and Regis sank a pair of free throws, to put LC back on top 51-50 at the mid way point of the half. 

The lead changed hands three times over the next seven minutes of play, before an acrobatic layup and 3-pointer from Taylan Grogan on consecutive possessions moved the Wildcats from a two point deficit to a three point advantage with just over three minutes left in the game. Travis Schultz added a dagger from long range 90 second later, followed by another spectacular bucket from Grogan and the Wildcats were up 68-60 with 1:22 left in the game. 

The Wildcats missed six free throws in the final 60 seconds of the game that almost cost them the victory, but fortunately Tyler went 2-for-5 from the field during that same stretch with both baskets coming from inside the three point arc. LC held Tyler to one of their lowest shooting totals of the season at 39.7% for the game, including a 50% effort in the second half, and 1-for-16 from 3-point range.

Taylan Grogan led the Wildcats with 29 points for the second straight game, going 5-for-6 from the field in the final 11 minutes of the game to keep LC's tournament hopes alive. Raheem Regis recorded another double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season and the fifth in the last six games for the senior. Steve Evans was the only other Wildcat to finish with double digits, scoring 10 points in just 11 minutes of play off the bench.

The Wildcats will carry their momentum into the final week of the season with three conference games in the span of six days, all at H.O. West Fieldhouse. LC will host rival ETBU Monday night at 7pm, with a chance to but into the Tigers 2.0 game lead over the Wildcats in the ASC East standings. Fans are encouraged to wear orange for "Fill the Fieldhouse" Monday night and the first 100 Louisiana College student will receive a free shirt for attending the game. The Wildcats are still alive for a tournament berth but will need to continue to win and hope for some help from their fellow ASC East teams. Follow @LC_MBSK or @LC_Wildcats on Twitter for the latest on LC men's basketball and all Wildcat athletics.