Georgia State Ousts Cajuns, 86-76

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns couldn't overcome a cold shooting night and were eliminated from the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, falling to #2 seed Georgia State, 86-76 at the UNO Lakefront Arena Friday night.

Louisiana (21-12) shot just 38.1% from the field (24-63) and 19.2% from three point range (5-26).  The Cajuns hit 23-31 free throws (74.2%).

Meanwhile, Georgia State (20-11) shot 49.1% from the field (27-55), while making 5-13 from three point range and 27-37 from the charity stripe.

Jay Wright, the lone senior on the Cajuns' squad, led the way for the Cajuns with 27 points.  Bruce Washington tallied 17, while Johnathan Stove had 14.  Georgia State was led by Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, D'Marcus Simonds, with 17 points.  Jeremy Hollowell added 16, Malik Benlevi scored 15 and Isaiah Williams added 14 for the Panthers.

Georgia State owned the board, outrebounding the Cajuns 44-31.  Hollowell had 14 boards to lead the victors.

Georgia State had a nine point lead at the half, 35-26 and led by as many as 15 in the second half.  The Cajuns got within six in the final minutes but could get no closer.

According to Director of Basketball Operations Michael Murphy, the Cajuns' season may not be over.  The Cajuns should find out their postseason fate either Sunday night or Monday Morning.

Georgia State advances to the semi finals where they will meet either #3 seed Georgia Southern or #6 seed Troy.  The semifinal will be at 2:00 pm, following the first semifinal between top seed UTA and #4 Texas State.