PINEVILLE, Louisiana - The Lobos ended up on the wrong side of another close game Saturday, falling 79-73 to the Wildcats of Louisiana College.
After falling to Belhaven in heartbreaking fashion after a late go-ahead corner 3 on Thursday evening, Sully struggled to close out the Wildcats of Pineville, LA. The Lobos managed to come out strong in the 1st half but never managed to pull away. Turnovers and foul problems let the Wildcats storm back and with 5:09 left they were able to reclaim the lead. The rest of the 1st half was back and forth resulting in a 1 point lead for Louisiana College heading into halftime.
The start of the 2nd half saw Sully again come out strong as they climbed to a 10 point lead early. But the Wildcats refused to go away. They took the lead with 7:52 left and never looked back. While the Lobos kept it close throughout, they found themselves down by 3 with 51 seconds to go. Following a missed layup from the Wildcat's Galen Smith, the Lobos suffered a costly miss on the other end leaving them with only 18 seconds left. The Wildcats were able to capitalize on the free throw line after the subsequent quick foul. A missed 3-pointer by the Lobos and one more free throw secured the win for the Wildcats.
Kae'ron Baker carried the Wildcats with a blistering 35 points while going 13 for 15 from the free throw stripe. Malik Cooper and Galen Smith recorded double digits as well to have the Wildcats finish with three players in double figures. Louisiana College substantially edged the Lobos in points off turnovers, 2nd chance points, points in the paint, and fast break points leading to their ultimate victory. While they did shoot poorly from beyond the arc at 13% they didn't need to by getting to the line 36 times and converting 27 of them.
The Lobos also had 3 players in double figures.
Tristen Licon with 23,
Logan Dixon with 17, and
Julian Paredes followed up his great shooting night against Belhaven with 13. However, Licon and Dixon tallied 13 out the 21 turnovers between the two of them over the course of the game. The Wildcats took better care of the ball ending the game with only 11.
This drops Sully to 3-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play on the season. All 5 losses have come away from the Gallego Center which makes sense since they have yet to play a home game. They'll have a 5 day break before they get their first home game when they host Hardin-Simmons on the 14th.
Photo Credit: Alena Noakes/Wildcat Media
