Cajuns Beat Georgia Southern, 74-65, for First Road Win

Just as they did Saturday night at Arkansas State, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns got off to a great start in the second half of their game against Georgia Southern.

Unlike last Saturday night, the Cajuns didn’t squander the lead and the result was their first road win of the season.

The Cajuns (6-8, 2-3) made the last basket of the first half and started the second half on a 10-1 run. Louisiana never looked back and took a 74-65 win over the Eagles at the Hanner Field House Thursday night.

Leading 38-36 with 19:54 left, the Cajuns scored the next ten points to take a double digit lead, 48-36 five minutes into the second half. The Cajuns’ lead ballooned to 16 points midway through the second half.

“Our defense was not as good as it needed to be in the first half, but we did a good job defending the three,” head coach Bob Marlin said. “In the second half we got off to a quick defensive start and built the lead.”

The Eagles were able to cut into the lead with a 10-2 run as the Cajuns had a three minute scoring drought and trailed just 64-56 with 3:18 to go. But Georgia Southern never got closer than seven as the Cajuns went 6-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:03 to seal the win, despite making only 2-9 from the floor down the stretch.

Shawn Long notched his 62nd career double double, tops in the nation among active players, with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Long was 10-13 from the field in the game. Steven Wronkoski had ten points, as did Bryce Washington, who also hauled in eight rebounds.

“Shawn did a really good job rebounding the ball and got a couple of big tip-ins. Bryce Washington really had a good second half,” Marlin said.

Freshman Tookie Brown led Georgia Southern (5-10, 1-4) with 20 points. Mike Hughes added 14 and Shawn O’Connell chipped in 10.

The Cajuns wound up shooting 46.8 percent from the field on 29-62 shooting. The Cajuns were 14.34 after intermission. The Cajuns made just 6-21 from three point range, going 0-9 in the second half.

The Cajuns’ defense limited Georgia Southern to 36 percent shooting and allowed the Eagles just 9-34 after intermission and they, too, were 0-9 from beyond the arc in the second half. Louisiana outrebounded the Eagles 46-37.

Louisiana will now travel to Atlanta to meet defending champion Georgia State Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.