Shepherd and Long help Ragin' Cajuns defeat Islanders, 96-72

Senior Kasey Shepherd scored a career-high 28 points and tied a single-game best with six 3-pointers, while Shawn Long notched his 74th career double-double to move into a tie for 12th place in NCAA history as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns rallied from an early deficit and defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 96-72, in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament Wednesday at the Cajundome.
Bryce Washington came off the bench to score 17 points, while Jay Wright and Steven Wronkoski had 11 each as Louisiana (18-14) scored its most points in a post-season game since a 97-76 win against Santa Clara in the third round of the 1984 National Invitational Tournament.
The Ragin’ Cajuns, who reached the quarterfinals of the 2015 CIT, advanced to the second round where they will face an opponent to be named later.
Louisiana, which won its first postseason game at home since defeating Florida, 65-64, in the first round of the 1985 NIT, used a 36-16 run in the first half that turned a 17-8 deficit into a 44-33 lead. Wright scored 10 straight points, which included a pair of 3-pointers, for the Ragin’ Cajuns, while Wronkoski buried a trio of 3-pointers, with his last one giving Louisiana a 44-33 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first half.
Shepherd, who scored 23 points with five 3-pointers in the second half, helped Louisiana pull away from a 46-37 halftime lead by making three straight 3-pointers. His 3-pointer from the left corner gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a 68-49 lead with 13:27 remaining, and Louisiana would eventually build its lead to 84-64 on a basket by Washington.
A&M-Corpus Christi (25-8), which was making its third straight trip to the CIT, used a 10-1 run early in the first half to take a 15-6 lead. Rashawn Thomas’ three-point play opened the run for the Islanders before Joe Kilgore scored seven consecutive points, the last coming on a dunk with 12:42 remaining in the first half.
After a layup by Ehab Amin gave the Islanders a 17-8 lead with 12:10 remaining in the half, the Ragin’ Cajuns chipped away at the lead as Long sank four free throws before buckets by Wronkoski and Wright eventually would cut the lead to 19-16 with 8:58 remaining.
Wright tied the game at 19 with a 3-pointer on the Ragin’ Cajuns following possession, and after Hameed Ali gave the Islanders a 22-19 lead, Wright drained his second 3-pointer of the night that would knot the score with 7:34 left.
A&M-Corpus Christi’s Brandon Pye scored five straight points that would give the Islanders a 27-26 lead with 5:51 left in the half, but Wronkoski drained a go-ahead 3-pointer on Louisiana’s next possession, and the senior later would add a pair of long-range jumpers for a 41-31 lead with 2:04 remaining in the half.
Long, who moved into second place on the Sun Belt’s all-time scoring list with 2,322 points, scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to move into a tie with former Memphis star Keith Lee and former Navy standout David Robinson for 12th place on the NCAA’s all-time list.
The Morgan City native finished 5-for-8 from the floor and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line as Louisiana went 19-for-34 (56 percent) from the floor in the second half and 34-for-65 (52 percent) for the game. The Ragin’ Cajuns went 11-for-24 (46 percent) from behind the 3-point line and held a 40-31 advantage on the glass.
Thomas led Texas A&M-Corpus Christi with 17 points before fouling out with 9:53 remaining. Kilgore and Amin scored 11 points each for the Islanders with Pye adding 10.