UL hoops fall in Georgia

Louisiana got 18 points and eight rebounds from junior Shawn Long, but Georgia Southern kept the Ragin’ Cajuns at arm’s length all night in handing them their first conference loss of the year, 78-70 Thursday at Hanner Fieldhouse.
The Cajuns (10-6, 4-1 SBC) scored the game’s first bucket but trailed the rest of the way as the Eagles (11-3, 4-1 SBC) hit seven three-pointers and 17-for-24 from the foul line to move into a tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference.
It was Louisiana’s first-ever trip to Statesboro in the teams’ first meeting since 1992.
Long, a Morgan City High alum, led the Cajuns in scoring and rebounds, hitting a pair of threes and moving past Bill McHorris into the top 25 in career scoring at UL.
Brian Williams added 10 points and six boards, and Hayward Register provided a spark off the bench with four three-pointers; however, no other player managed to reach double figures for Louisiana.
For Georgia Southern, Jelani Hewitt — the SBC’s leading scorer — finished with a team-high 17 points, with 14 coming in the first half. But he got plenty of help with four other Eagles putting in at least 10 points.
The Cajuns started cold from the field, hitting just one of their first 10 shots and missing each of their first nine attempts from beyond the arc before Hayward Register entered and nailed a pair of threes late in the half.
UL scored the first bucket of the game but the Eagles answered with a 9-0 run and led by as much as 13 with three minutes to go in the half.
The Cajuns got within 13-12 before Hewitt got going, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the half in the final five minutes.
Long and Register combined for 14 of the Cajuns’ 27 points in the half, with Register providing a shot of offensive life with his two threes, helping UL score 15 points in the final five minutes after just a dozen points in the opening 15.
In the second half, the Cajuns drew within three quickly behind a surge spurred from seven straight points from Long, but the Eagles pushed the lead back to double digits on a three from Chris Diamond as part of a 12-4 run with less than nine minutes to play.
The lead stayed at double digits until less than five minutes remaining when three-pointers from Williams and Register were sandwiched around a layup from Devonta Walker for a nine-point spurt in just more than a minute that had the lead to 67-64 with 1:57 left in the game.
But Hewitt answered with a three-point play and Georgia Southern hit five of six foul shots in the final minute to hold the Cajuns at bay.
Louisiana will get a quick turnaround with three games in five days at home, starting Saturday at the Cajundome against South Alabama.