Red Wolves to hit road after falling in overtime

JONESBORO — All of the necessary dominoes had fallen. All Arkansas State University needed was a victory.

The Red Wolves’ chance to host a first-round game in this week’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament fell short in a 90-87 overtime loss to Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday at First National Bank Arena.

With South Alabama and Texas-Arlington victorious Saturday, ASU was in position to host Tuesday’s firstround game in Jonesboro with a victory of its own.

“Obviously, not the outcome that we wanted,” ASU Coach Mike Balado said. “But I’ve very proud of my team.”

The Red Wolves will be the No. 9 seed in the conference tournament and travel to Mobile, Ala., to meet No. 8 South Alabama at 7 p.m. at the Mitchell Center.

The winner will advance as one of eight teams at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.

“It’s a tough loss, man, but we never gave up,” said ASU senior guard Ty Cockfield, who led all scorers with

35 points.

“What, we got down 12 or 13? That’s all we wanted to see.”

Behind 28 second-half points from Cockfield, who buried a game-tying three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining in regulation, ASU put together a 50-point second half to force overtime at 84-84.

“He was making everything,” Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Bob Marlin said.

Cockfield made 13 of 29 Cockfield shots and 6 of 14 from threepoint range. He played all but 13 seconds in the second half.

“I had to get in rhythm,” Cockfield said of his final game at First National Bank Arena. “I was forcing it in the first half, just trying to make shots. But that’s not my game. My game is to let it come to me.”

Cockfield’s 35 points put him at 695 points in the 201819 season, tying Adrian Banks (2006-07) for the most in a single season in program history.

“Ty Cockfield was tremendous,” Balado said.

Cockfield’s stellar scoring performance was necessary for the Red Wolves to overcome a 13-point deficit with 7:16 remaining in the first half to make overtime possible.

Louisiana-Lafayette (19-12, 10-8) outscored ASU 42-34 in the first half, grabbed 18 offensive rebounds for 20 second-chance points, and shot 10 of 22 from threepoint range.

Louisiana-Lafayette relied on 25 points and 9 rebounds from senior forward JaKeenan Gant, and 16 points and 15 rebounds from junior forward Justin Miller to thrash ASU’s interior defense.

In overtime, the Ragin’ Cajuns held ASU to 1-of-7 shooting from the field.

Louisiana-Lafayette opened overtime on a 5-0 run on a jumper from sophomore guard Cedric Russell, and backup freshman guard Trajan Wesley added a layup and a free throw.

With 2:29 remaining in overtime, Cockfield connected on a tough layup, was fouled and made a free throw — scoring all three of ASU’s overtime points in one bunch.

The Red Wolves did not attempt another shot in overtime until Cockfield missed a jumper with 38 seconds remaining.

After a missed three-pointer from senior guard Grantham Gillard with 30 seconds remaining, ASU sophomore point guard Marquis Eaton soared over the Cajuns’ bigs for ASU’s second consecutive offensive rebound.

Eaton burned 10 seconds of game clock before forcing a three-pointer with 0:04 remaining. Gant, who is 6-8, blocked Eaton’s attempt, ending the ballgame.

“I voted [Gant] defensive player of the year,” Balado said. “So, that’s probably the wrong guy you want guarding you with five seconds left.”

The final play’s objective was to feed Cockfield for a corner three-pointer, Balado said.

The play design crumbled once Eaton couldn’t successfully begin a string of relay passes needed to swing it around the three-point line and put the ball in Cockfield’s hands.

“I’m not leaving down here moping with my chin down,” Balado said. “I’m leaving with my chin up. Even though we lost, I thought we played a very, very good basketball game.”