Men’s Basketball: : First Half Run Carries Cajuns Past Cowboys, 97-64

LAFAYETTE Shawn Long scored 11 of his game-high 24 points during a 26-4 run in the first half and the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns forced a season-high 20 turnovers in a 97-64 win over in-state rival McNeese State in a non-conference game on Wednesday at the Cajundome.

Jay Hedgeman came off the bench to score a season-high 13 points while Jay Wright and Kasey Shepherd each added 10 as Louisiana (3-3) led from wire-to-wire and led 52-31 at halftime. McNeese State, which was led by Adrian Brown s 11 points fell to 1-6 on the season.

A 3-pointer by McNeese State s Shaun Johnson cut the Ragin Cajuns lead to 19-15 with 11:59 remaining in the first half before Louisiana put the game out of reach. Hedgeman began the run with a 3-pointer and after a layup by the Cowboys Stephen Ugochukwu with 11:17 remaining in the half, the Ragin Cajuns would pull away by scoring the next 19 points.

Long, who finished 9-for-12 from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds to notch his 56th double-double of his career, drained a pair of free throws before his three-point play with 10:01 remaining gave the Ragin Cajuns a 27-17 lead.

Tyrone Wooten added a jumper and Shepherd, who was 5-for-17 from 3-point range entering the game, hit a 3-pointer that pushed the Ragin Cajuns lead to 32-17 at the 9:07 mark. Hedgeman would later add a free throw and a basket before a layup by Long and back-to-back dunks by Hedgeman ended the run as Louisiana led 41-17 with 5:24 remaining.

The Ragin Cajuns opened the game with a 14-7 run as Johnathan Stove scored all eight of his points in the game s first five minutes. McNeese State, which finished 23-for-71 (32.4 percent) from the floor, cut the lead to 8-7 on a 3-pointer by Lance Potier with 16:14 remaining in the first half, but the Cajuns would score the next six points as Long converted on a three-point play, Tiremone Williams made one of two free throws and Stove converted on a driving layup for a 14-7 lead at the 15:04 mark of the first half.

Louisiana finished 38-for-74 (51.4 percent) from the field, including a season-high tying 19-for-31 performance (61.3 percent) from the floor in the first half. The Ragin Cajuns made 14 of 17 free throws while holding a 46-40 advantage on the boards.

Long, who moved into sole possession of 13th place in Sun Belt Conference history in scoring (1,819), blocked three shots to tie former Western Kentucky player Jeremy Evans for fifth on the league s all-time list with 224.

Louisiana will open a three-game roadtrip beginning Saturday when it travels to Ruston to face Louisiana Tech in a noon contest at the Thomas Assembly Center. The game will be televised nationally on the American Sports Network and regionally on Cox Sports Television.

After facing Louisiana Tech, the Ragin Cajuns will travel to the West Coast to face UCLA on Tuesday (Dec. 15) at historic Pauley Pavilion before concluding their trip with a date at Pepperdine on Dec. 18.

– www.RaginCajuns.com –