Postgame radio interview with Elijah McCadden

Postgame radio interview with Brian Burg

LAFAYETTE, La. – Elijah McCadden scored a season-high 21 points, including the game-winning free throws with 17.1 seconds left, to lift Georgia Southern to a 66-65 Sun Belt men's basketball win over Louisiana Saturday night in the Cajundome.

Georgia Southern trailed by eight points with 3:09 to play, and McCadden scored the last seven points of the game for the Eagles. After McCadden's free throws, Louisiana's Michael Thomas drove to the hoop on the final play  and tried to wrap around a pass to Jordan Brown cutting to the basket. The Eagles got a hand on the pass, and the ball was tipped around, appropriately finding the arms of McCadden as the final horn sounded.

Eagles of the Game 
McCadden was 6 of 8 from the floor and 8 of 11 from the charity stripe while adding four assists and a pair of rebounds. Cam Bryant scored 16 points, including 14 in the first half, and added seven rebounds and two assists. Prince Toyambi collected nine points, making all five of his free-throw attempts, and totaled a game-high 10 rebounds.

Key Moments 
Louisiana (9-10, 4-5) used a 14-4 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 64-56 advantage with 3:09 to go as Kobe Julien, who finished with 19 points, scored five during the stretch. 

Tre Cobbs ignited a 10-1 Eagle run to finish the game with a conventional 3-point play with 2:14 remaining, and McCadden buried a 3-pointer from the wing to trim the margin to two points on the Eagles' next possession. After the Ragin' Cajuns missed a pair of free throws, McCadden drove for a layup to tie the score 64-64 with 48.9 seconds left. 

The senior was fouled on the play, missed the free throw, and the Eagles' fouled Julien going after the loose ball. Julien made 1 of 2 from the line with 45.4 seconds on the clock. McCadden was hacked on the arm on a pull-up jumper with the shot clock winding down, setting up his two game-winning free throws.

The Ragin' Cajuns forced three straight turnovers and turned them into seven points in what became a 16-2 run that opened a 23-15 lead with 6:30 left in the first half. The Eagles (10-9, 3-5) clamped down defensively and held Louisiana to 1 of 9 from the field the rest of the period. Bryant hit three straight triples and scored 11 at the other end in a 15-2 spurt that helped give Georgia Southern a 32-29 cushion at the break.    

Stats and Notes
- It was the Eagles' fourth straight win in the Cajundome. The last Louisiana opponent to win four straight games in the Cajundome was Southern Miss from 1989-95.
- It was the sixth time this season that the Eagles have been able to dress their full rotation, and they improved to 5-1.
- Louisiana reached the 1-and-1 bonus 4:31 into the second half and reached the double bonus with 11:45 left in the game.
- The Eagles outrebounded Louisiana 37-34 but committed a season-high 23 turnovers, which turned into 25 Ragin' Cajun points.
- The game featured 13 lead changes and nine ties. 

Up Next
The Eagles finish the regular season with five of their last eight contests at home. That stretch starts next Thursday when Georgia Southern welcomes South Alabama to Hanner Fieldhouse on Olympics Night. The contest tips off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the GS Sports Network.