LAFAYETTE — Louisiana’s bid for a third straight win came up short on New Year’s Eve as South Alabama closed the game on a late surge to hand the Ragin’ Cajuns a 63-58 loss at the Cajundome.
The setback snapped Louisiana’s momentum after back-to-back wins that ended a 10-game losing streak under first-year head coach Quannas White. The Cajuns traded blows with the Jaguars throughout the first half, with Josh Lewis and Dorian Finister providing the offensive spark. Lewis finished with 11 points, while Finister added 17 as Louisiana trailed just 31-30 at halftime.
Louisiana carried that energy into the second half behind Jaxson Olvera, who scored a team-high 18 points. Olvera gave the Cajuns a four-point lead with 1:44 remaining, putting Louisiana in position to close out the game.
Instead, a pair of late turnovers and defensive breakdowns proved costly. South Alabama capitalized with a decisive 9-0 run over the final 90 seconds to pull away and seal the win.
“We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball,” White said. “We did it the entire game and right there at the end that cost us, but that’s not the play that lost the game. We had several plays on the defensive end where they got some open looks. We’ve been better, and we’ve just got to correct those mistakes.”
Olvera echoed that sentiment, pointing to the loss as a learning experience for a young team.
“We just got to learn from it,” Olvera said. “Everybody knows where they messed up at, and we just had too many mistakes at the end. We’ve got to clean that up and move forward.”
Conference play continues in the new year for Louisiana, which returns to the Cajundome to host Southern Miss on Saturday at noon.
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