ESTERO, Fla. (press release) – Nate Navigato and Jaelen Sanford each scored 17 points to lead four players in double figures and Toledo took advantage of cold shooting by the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to claim a 77-64 victory in the semifinals of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Tuesday at Hertz Arena.
Louisiana (2-3), which will face Tulane in the third-place game on Wednesday at 4 p.m., CT, missed its first 10 shots of the game before using a 17-5 run to take a 19-18 lead on Malik Marquetti’s bucket with 8:07 remaining in the first half.
After falling behind, 25-21, the Ragin’ Cajuns claimed their last lead of the game when freshman Trajan Wesley drained a 3-pointer and scored on a layup with 4:32 remaining before Toledo (4-1) took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Chris Darrington.
Toledo, which finished 18-for-29 (62.1 percent) from the floor and 7-for-12 from behind the 3-point line in the second half, used a 20-7 run that was capped by a Darrington bucket at the 14:01 mark.
Louisiana closed to within 60-53 on a free throw by P.J. Hardy with 7:45 remaining, but Navigato and Darrington combined to hit three 3-pointers in a decisive 13-0 run to push Toledo’s lead to 73-53 with 3:46 left.
JaKeenan Gant scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Louisiana, which placed four players in double figures and shot a season-low 36.1 percent (26-for-72) from the floor. Wesley, who scored 10 points in Monday’s 91-73 win over Colorado State, scored a season-high 12 points off the bench for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Marquetti adding 11 points and Marcus Stroman 10.
