Pilots take down no. 5 Our Lady of the Lake
January 30, 2012
SHREVEPORT, La. - The LSU Shreveport Pilots men's basketball team did not disappoint the standing room only crowd at The Dock on Monday night as they defeated the no. 5 Our Lady of the Lake Saints by a final score of 83-74 snapping a 15-game win streak for the Saints and increasing their own streak to six straight.LSUS (13-6, 11-3 RRAC) picked up their first win against the Saints in their fifth try as they finished with four scorers in double figures in a game that had plenty of fouls, free-throws, and three-point attempts. Greg Shyne led the way with 26 points while Aubin Young tossed in 16, Derrick Parker 12 and Cody Walker 11.
Shyne had an impressive performance draining 13 of 16 from the charity stripe including four technical free-throws that saw the ejection of the Our Lady of the Lake head coach for arguing with the officials with 3:16 to play in the first half after he had been warned just three minutes into the game. Shyne was six of eight from the field while Young was six of nine as Walker was a perfect four for four from the field.
Parker led the way for the Pilots defensively with five blocks in 35 minutes.
The Pilots struggled against the aggressive defense from the visitors as they turned the ball over 28 times but OLLU could only get 14 points off the turnovers thanks to their three-point shooters having an off night as they came into the game 1st in the NAIA in three's made per game, scoring offense per game and three's made per game. The Saints made just 10 out of 39 attempts while the Pilots pulled down 29 defensive rebounds.
The LSUS defense is to be applauded for the errand shots as they had a hand in the face of the shooter on nearly every attempt as well as forcing 20 turnovers as the offense scored 15 points off the takeaways. The Pilots did what they had to from the field, scoring 36 points in the paint, and made enough free throws (30) to pick up the win against one of the top five teams in the country.
For the second game in a row the LSUS' defense has held down a top-notch offensive team.
OLLU (17-4, 14-1 RRAC) still lead in the RRAC regular season standings but now only two games separate them and the Pilots. The Saints finished with three scorers in double figures as Josh Orta and Robert Martinez led the team with 17 while LoRon Smith had a dozen points.
The Pilots will now go on a four-game road trip with the first of four in Dallas this Thursday at 7 p.m. against Paul Quinn College. The next game at The Dock will be Wednesday, Feb. 15, against St. Thomas at 7 p.m.
