LAFAYETTE, La. – Shawn Long scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half and Alan-Michael Thompson came off the bench for 18 as Louisiana-Lafayette built a 19-point first-half lead en route to a 77-60 win over Lamar on Tuesday.
Elfrid Payton led the Ragin' Cajuns with 17 points. Both Payton and Long recorded 11 rebounds and went 7 of 14 from the field.
Louisiana-Lafayette opened the game with back-to-back layups, then Long, a freshman, scored the next seven points to put the Ragin' Cajuns up 11-0.
Lamar rallied to cut the deficit to 25-17 with 3:49 left in the first half but Josh Soto hit a 3-pointer, and Thompson scored eight straight points for the Ragin' Cajuns to create the halftime deficit.
Rhon Mitchell had 21 points for Lamar (1-8), which has lost eight of nine to open the season after going 23-12 last season.
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