  An experimental campaign has been undertaken at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di
Legnaro, Italy, in order to progress in our understanding of the statistical
properties of light nuclei at excitation energies above particle emission
threshold, by measuring exclusive data from fusion-evaporation reactions. A
first reaction 12C+12C at 7.9 AMeV beam energy has been measured, using the
GARFIELD+Ring Counter experimental setup. Fusion-evaporation events have been
exclusively selected. The comparison to a dedicated Hauser-Feshbach calculation
allows us to give constraints on the nuclear level density at high excitation
energy for light systems ranging from C up to Mg. Out-of-equilibrium emission
has been evidenced and attributed both to entrance channel effects favoured by
the cluster nature of reaction partners and, in more dissipative events, to the
persistence of cluster correlations well above the 24Mg threshold for 6 alphas
decay. The 24Mg compound nucleus has been studied with a new measurement 14N +
10B at 5.7 AMeV. The comparison between the two datasets would allow us to
further constrain the level density of light nuclei. Deviations from a
statistical behaviour can be analyzed to get information on nuclear clustering.
