The Ragin Cajuns basketball team got 2016 started on the right foot with a dominant win over Appalachian State (2-11, 0-2 Sun Belt) by the score of 79-58.
The Cajuns started off with an early lead and began to pull away midway through the first half with a 9-2 run and headed into the locker room with a comfortable 40-21 lead over the Mountaineers.
The Cajuns lead stayed in the double digit range the rest of the game and the Mountaineers never got closer than 14 points in the second half.
Kasey Shepherd led the way for the Cajuns with 19 points, three boards, one assist, and one steal on the night. Shawn Long wasn’t far behind with 18 points, 15 boards, three assists, and one block before fouling out late in the contest.
Ronshad Shabazz led the Mountaineers with 11 points, two boards, and one steal.
This was the eighth straight loss for the Mountaineers.
The Cajuns (5-6, 1-1 Sun Belt) will have a tough adversary on Thursday night when they travel to take on Arkansas-Little Rock (12-1, 2-0 Sun Belt) on January 7th to kick off a four-game road trip with tipoff set for 7:15.
-Clint Domingue