PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana College men's basketball team found itself in another tight battle for the second straight game, but this back-and-forth affair with Mobile came down to the last seconds as the Rams banked in a long three-point shot with two seconds left to upend the Wildcats 75-73 Saturday afternoon at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
The Wildcats looked like they might pull away early as LC used a 12-2 run to turn a 17-16 Mobile lead into a 28-19 Wildcat lead when
D'Marcus Fugett split a pair of free throws with 4:47 left before halftime. But Mobile answered that run with a 14-4 run of their own to reclaim the lead at 33-32 with less than a minute before the break.
Jude Akabueze scored on a lay-up with the clock ticking down to give the Wildcats the lead at the break at 34-33.
Leading 43-41 five minutes into the second half, the Wildcats looked to pull away again by going on a 7-0 run with a pair of free throws by
Kae'ron Baker putting the Wildcats up 50-41 with 11:42 left in the contest. But Mobile had another answer as the Rams went on a 14-6 run to get it back to a one-point game at 56-55 Wildcats with 6:30 remaining. LC got the lead back up to six points on a
KJ Bilbo three-pointer with four minutes left that made the score 64-58.
Mobile made a run back and took the lead at 70-69 with more than a minute left, but the Wildcats answered back with a lay-up by
Bailey Hardy to get back in front with less than a minute left. A couple free throws by
KJ Bilbo following a Ram turnover put the Wildcats up three with less than 30 seconds left. Mobile got a lay-up to make it a one-point game, and then a turnover gave Mobile the chance for the last second heroics, which the Rams cashed in on to steal the game.
Kae'ron Baker hit four three-pointers on his way to a game-high 22 points to go along with four assists.
Bailey Hardy picked up his first double-double on the season with 12 points and ten rebounds.
Jude Akabueze was five-of-seven from the field to also finish with 12 points. All of
KJ Bilbo's made field goals in the game came from beyond the arc as he finished with 11 points to go with five boards.
LC hit 41% of their shots while also hitting 36.4% from deep. Mobile heated up in the second half, hitting 59.3% in the last 20 minutes to finish at 51.7% overall, including 52.9% from long distance.
The Wildcats (2-1) head down to New Orleans for a midweek exhibition match-up against Tulane. Tip-off against the Green Wave (0-0) is set for 7:00 P.M. at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse.
