Despite a late rally from the Troy Trojans (13-14, 7-7 Sun Belt), the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (23-4, 13-1 Sun Belt) were able to get the job done on Thursday night and came away with an 81-76 victory.
It was all Cajuns from the outset with a 10-2 run over the opening three minutes of the matchup. The Trojans started to fight back and managed to tie it up at 26 with 7:36 left in the first half courtesy of a layup from Juan Davis Jr., but that was as close as they got as the Cajuns were able to get out to a five-point lead at the break.
Troy was able to take a 42-41 lead early on, but the Cajuns responded with a 6-0 run shortly after to take control right back. Louisiana got up by as much as 13 points with 6:59 left in regulation, but the Trojans got hot from the field, going on a 13-2 run to chip away at the Cajuns lead. Marcus Stroman officially put the game out of reach in the final seconds, making both of his free throws.
The Cajuns will return to action on Saturday when they take on the South Alabama Jaguars (14-14, 7-8 Sun Belt) with tipoff set for 7:05 pm.
-Clint Domingue