Sun Belt Conference Tournament Recaps

New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) – Georgia State held off a furious Louisiana rally to advance to the Sun Belt championship with an 83-79 win over the Ragin’ Cajuns.

The top-seeded Panthers (23-9) will play against the second-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles with a chance to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001 when they upset Wisconsin, a six seed, in the first round.

R.J. Hunter scored 19 of his 32 points in the first half to help Georgia State lead 44-27 after 20 minutes. Markus Crider added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Isaiah Dennis scored 10 on 5-of-8 shooting.

Louisiana (20-13) had four players reach double figures, led by Devonta Walker’s 17 points. Kasey Shepherd added 16 points, and Shawn Long and Bryce Washington had 10 apiece.

Down by as much as 24 in the second half, the Ragin’ Cajuns got hot from the field by making eight straight shots to cut their deficit to nine with 2:30 remaining. Louisiana would miss its next five, though, and the Panthers led by 14 with 72 seconds to play.

The Ragin’ Cajuns had one more run left in them, but they ran out of time. They hit their last six shots, including a pair of 3s in the closing seconds, to score 11 of the final 13 points.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball