Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun men's basketball team recorded a Sun Belt Conference road win on Saturday night, defeating the Troy Trojans, 72-59, in Troy, Alabama.

For Louisiana, it's was their first Sun Belt Conference road victory of the year, in three tries, while Troy dropped their third-straight conference home game.

In the first half, with the score tied, 17-17, at the 10:36 mark, the Cajuns went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:16, to take a 26-17 lead at the 8:20 mark.

Louisiana held on to that 9-point lead the remainder of the half, and took a 34-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Cajuns out-shot the Trojans in the first half, 48%-31%, and also forced nine Trojan turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Shawn Long led Louisiana in scoring in the first half, with 12 points, while Elfrid Payton pulled down five rebounds.

For Troy, they were paced by Kevin Thomas, who had 9 points and 11 rebounds in the first half.

With Louisiana up, 40-32, with 17:06 remaining in the game, Troy scored six unanswered point, cutting the UL lead to 40-38 with 15:41 to go.

The Trojans continued their run, outscoring the Cajuns 8-6 over the next 3:32, to tie the game, 46-46, with 12:09 remaining.

Troy then wrestled the lead away from Louisiana, their first since the first half, when Kelton Ford converted a lay-up at the 10:19 mark, giving them a 51-49 advantage.

UL's Kevin Brown then tied things up, 51-51, at the 9:09 mark, when he converted two free throw attempts.

On the next possession for the Cajuns, Xavian Rimmer nailed a three-pointer, giving them the lead back, 54-51, with 8:28 remaining.

Louisiana wasn't done, and neither was Rimmer, who put in another three-pointer, following a steal by Payton, extending the UL lead to 57-51 with 7:52 remaining.

The Trojans, not wanting to go away quietly, got a bucket from Tevin Calhoun, and a three-pointer from Hunter Williams, trimming the Cajuns' lead to 57-56 at the 7:03 mark.

Louisiana then scored 10 of the next 12 points, courtesy of two Rimmer free throws, dunks by both Long and Payton, a jumper by Long, and a lay-up by Payton, extending their lead to 67-58 with 3:28 remaining.

The Cajuns went on to score five of the next six points, making it a 15-3 run to end the game, as they went on to the 13-point win.

Louisiana ended the game out-shooting Troy from the field, 54%-41%,while forcing 14 turnovers.

The Cajuns were led by Long, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Payton added 14 points, six rebounds, and eight assists.

For the Trojans, Calhoun finished with 14 points, while Thomas had 13 points and 13 rebounds.

With the win, Louisiana improved to 12-6, overall, and 3-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, while Troy slipped to 7-11, and 2-4, respectively.

The Cajuns return to action on Thursday night, when they host Georgia St. in Sun Belt Conference action at the Cajundome.

 

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