Men and women’s basketball winning streaks extended

Andres Cruze

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The men and women’s basketball teams both extended their winning streaks in nail-bitters on the road against the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Thursday night.

The men extended their winning streak to 10 consecutive after defeating Louisiana-Lafayette 77-70.

The Panthers fought their way back after trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half to take a seven-point lead with 12 minutes left in the game.

The Ragin’ Cajuns quickly made up ground causing several lead changes in the second half, but the Panthers went on a 10-0 run in the final minutes of the game that included four successful free-throws by Manny Atkins.

The Panthers were able to hold on in the final seconds to claim the victory and give the Ragin’ Cajuns their first home loss this season.

The Panthers remainNo. 1 in the Sun Belt at 6-0, and they are one game away from tying the longest winning streak in school history.

R.J. Hunter scored 33 points in the game going 5-of-7 on 3-pointers.

Hunter went 12-of-14 at the free-throw line ending his streak of 38-consecutive free-throws made, the longest in school history.

The women’s basketball team kept its streak alive, as well, extending it to three-consecutive wins in a dramatic 72-67 overtime win over Louisiana-Lafayette.

After trailing by nine with 14 minutes left in the game, the Panthers made their way back tying the game at 62 with 28 seconds left in the game and pushing it to overtime.

Free throws by Kayla Nolan and Brittany Logan put the Panthers ahead early in overtime, but it was Kendra Long who sealed the victory with two free-throws to put the Panthers out of reach and defeat the Ragin’ Cajuns.

The Panthers’ bench scored an impressive 53 points as Ashlee Cole and Brittany Logan each finished with 16 points. Logan had a double-double grabbing 15 rebounds in the game.

Both teams will remain in the state of Louisiana to take on the University of Louisiana at Monroe Saturday. The women tipoff at 3 p.m. followed by the men who tipoff at 5 p.m.