Long’s Record Night Propels Cajuns, 103-69

Shawn Long scored a career high 30 points and set a new Ragin' Cajuns  school record by going a perfect 12-12 from the field as Louisiana throttled Centenary, 103-69 Tuesday night at the Cajundome.

The Cajuns (8-3) won for the sixth time in their last seven outings, putting five players in double figures.  Kasey Shepherd scored 19 points and was a perfect 5-5 from three point range.  Elfrid Payton chipped in 15 points and seven assists, while Kevin Brown scored eleven points and freshman Vieux Kande added ten.

Jonathan Blount scored 28 points for the Gents (4-2), while freshman Kendall Demouchet, a Lafayette native who prepped at Northside High School added 17.

The Cajuns got the first basket of the game on a Stephen Wronkoski three pointer and never trailed in the game.  :Louisiana got its first double digit lead, 21-11 on a Payton layup with 11:01 left in the first half.  The Cajuns substituted liberally throughout the game and led by as many as 24 points in the first half before taking a 51-32 lead in to the locker room.

Centenary got no closer than 15 points in the second half.

Long scored his 30 points in only 22 minutes of action. One of his twelve field goals was from three point range.  He also added seven rebounds and two blocked shots. He was the first player since Chris Manuel (10-10 vs. Lamar in 1998) to shoot perfectly from the field with at least ten makes.

The Cajuns shot 39-61 from the field (63.9%) and 9-20 from beyond the arc.  Centenary shot 24-57 (42.1%) and made 7-15 field goals.

The win was the 399th in head coach Bob Marlin's career.  He'll go for number 400 Thursday night when Louisiana takes on Jackson State (3-7) at the Lee E. Williams AAC.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30.