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Cold start buries Cajuns in 104-77 loss at Appalachian State

Posted at 9:44 PM, Jan 31, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-31 22:44:35-05

BOONE, N.C. (Press Release) – Tyrell Johnson came off the bench to score 20 points to lead five players in double figures and Appalachian State scored the game’s first 17 points to defeat the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, 104-77, in a Sun Belt Conference game on Thursday at the Holmes Center.

Justin Forrest scored 17 points to App State (7-14, 2-6 SBC), which won its second straight game and earned its first-ever victory over Louisiana (13-8, 4-4 SBC) in nine contests. Hunter Seacat added 14 points, Ronshad Shabazz 12 and Isaac Johnson 10 as the Mountaineers led 51-31 at halftime and 72-39 with 14:17 remaining.

Louisiana, which was led by JaKeenan Gant with 15 points and 10 rebounds, missed its first eight shots of the game before a bucket by Cedric Russell with 14:51 left in the first half ended the opening run by App State.

The Ragin’ Cajuns trailed 31-10 after Johnson sank a pair of free throws with 9:57 left in the first half before chipping away at the lead. Louisiana used a 17-7 run that cut the deficit to 38-27 on a 3-pointer by P.J. Hardy with 3:39 left, but Isaac Johnson opened a 9-0 run for the Mountaineers with a bucket before Tyrell Johnson sank a 3-pointer to push the lead to 43-27.

A bucket by Gant with 18:58 remaining helped Louisiana cut the lead to 53-35 before App State blew the game open with a 19-4 run, that was capped by a free throw by Tyrell Johnson, for a 72-39 lead.

Jerekius Davis scored 12 of his 13 points in the second half for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Jeremy Hayes came off the bench to add 12. Justin Miller added nine points for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who finished 28-for-62 (45 percent) from the floor and 5-for-27 (19 percent) from behind the 3-point line.

Isaac Johnson pulled down 14 rebounds and added five steals for Appalachian State, which forced Louisiana into a season-high 21 turnovers.

Louisiana will return to action on Saturday (Feb. 2) when it travels to face Coastal Carolina in Conway, S.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on ESPN+