Long earns SBC’s weekly honor

Shawn Long, who needed just 18 minutes in Saturday’s contest against Louisiana  College to register his first double-double of the season, has been named the season’s first Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.
The Sun Belt announced the award Tuesday.
“I am happy for Shawn,” Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin said in a university release. “He worked hard during the off season to lose a little weight, get a little slimmer and improve his quickness and foot work, and that work has paid off.”
Long, a 6-9, 245-pound sophomore from Morgan City, opened the season by scoring 23 points with 14 rebounds and four blocks to lead Louisiana-Lafayette to a 101-67 win against Louisiana College. He was 11-for-17 from the field in 24 minutes.
Long, who ranked sixth nationally last season with 18 double-doubles, only needed 18:07 to accomplish his 19th double-double, grabbing his 10th rebound (to go with 14 points at the time) as part of an 18-point, 11-rebound effort in the first half.
It marked the first time Long had reached double-double totals by intermission.
The top freshman rebounder in the country last season, Long’s 14 rebounds were just three off his career high of 17 set vs. McNeese State last year.