Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns put forth a valiant effort and appeared to have a come-from-behind victory over UL Monroe in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, but Tony Hooper's desperation three-point make with 0.7 left gave the Warhawks a 76-75 victory at Convention Center Court in Hot Springs, Ark.

The Ragin' Cajuns (13-17) played shorthanded with Chris Gradnigo missing his third straight game, Tyren Johnson playing the second half with bruised ribs, Colby Batiste fouling out with 10:29 left in the game and Randell Daigle fouling out with 8:05 left in the game.  Johnson was whistled for his fourth foul with 8:36 remaining.

Down 68-60 at the 5:44 mark, the Cajuns stormed back with a 13-2 burst. In a 22-second span, a pair of Travis Bureau free throws and a Johnson layup after a Raymone Andrews steal sliced the Warhawks' lead to 68-64.

After a Hooper layup at 4:49, Bureau registered a three-point play seven seconds later to make it 70-67.

The Cajuns defense put the clamps on UL Monroe then at 3:12 a layup by Lamar Roberson pulled UL within a point. The defense pressured UL Monroe into turnovers that led to back-to-back dunks by Bureau, the latter pushing the Cajuns lead to 73-70 with 1:51 remaining.

Hooper tied the game with a long three-pointer with 43 seconds left. A Roberson jumper from free throw line with 17.5 on clock gave Cajuns what seemed to he the game-winning basket for a 75-73 lead.

The Cajuns were led by a season-high 22 points from Bureau. He also had a season-high nine field goal makes and a season-high eight rebounds.

Johnson registered his 19th consecutive game in double figures as he tallied 17 in what turned out to be the final game in the career of the 2009-10 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.

Tony Hooper's game-high 30 points led ULM. Hooper was lights out from beyond the arc, nailing 7-of-12 attempts as he outscored the entire Cajuns team 21-9 from three-point range.

The loss prevented UL from gaining a three-game sweep of their in-state rivals. The Cajuns suffered their fourth straight defeat in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament.

The Cajuns were unable to contain Hooper and Tommie Sykes in the first half.  The pair combined to score 32 points as the Warhawks shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

The Cajuns trio of Johnson, Randell Daigle and Bureau combined for 29 points in the opening half.  UL shot an even 50 percent from the floor in the first half.

Two quick triples by Hooper gave ULM an early 10-4 advantage.  Hooper nailed another three-pointer after a Sykes bucket before Hooper's steal and lay-up extended the Warhawks' lead to 20-12.

Five straight points by Sykes saw the ULM lead grow to 25-14 at the 11:39 mark.  The Warhawks started the game 5-of-6 from three point range.

The Cajuns countered with a 10-2 run sparked by five points off the bench from Javan Mitchell.  The burst cut the score to 32-29 with 7:22 still to play in the opening half.

Another triple by Hooper pushed the Warhawks' lead back to seven points, 40-33, at the 4:25 mark.  The ULM lead hit nine points following Hooper's fifth three-point basket of the half with 42 seconds left.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --