Louisiana guard Elfrid Payton and forward Shawn Long have both been named to the All-Sun Belt Conference first team, as selected by the league's coaches and select media members.

The announcement was made today by the league office.

Payton was also named the Defensive Player of the Year.  The versatile guard led the Sun Belt in assists and steals, was 2nd in scoring, 13th in rebounding, ninth in FG percentage and 6th in assist/turnover ratio.  The Gretna junior also led the league in minutes played in Sun Belt games.

Long led the league in rebounds and blocked shots.  He was third in scoring, 6th in field goal

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percentage, and fourth in three point percentage.  The sophomore from Morgan City also led the league in three point percentage in Sun Belt games.

Joining the two Cajuns on the first team were Sun Belt Player of the Year R. J. Hunter of Georgia State and his teammate Ryan Harrow, along with the league's leading scorer, Reger Dowell of UT Arlington.

Harris finished fourth in the league in scoring, second in steals, third in three point field goals per game, fourth in scoring, seventh in three point pct. and 10th in blocked shots.  He led his team to the regular season title in the Sun Belt.

Harrow was in the top five in the league in scoring, assists, steals, free throw pct. and assist/turnover ratio.  Dowell was the only player to average 20 points per game.  He led the league in three pointers per game.

Ron Harris of Georgia State was named Coach of the Year, while Chris Harrison-Docks of WKU was tabbed as the league's top freshman.

Second team honorees were pre-season player of the year Augustine Rubit of South Alabama, WKU guard T. J. Price, forwards Will Neighbour of UALR,  Kirk Van Slyke of Arkansas State and Manny Atkins of Georgia State.

On the third team was Devonta White of Georgia State, George Fant of WKU, Tylor Ongwae of UL Monroe, Melvin Johnson III of Arkansas State and Brandon Edwards of UT Arlington.

(photos courtesy ragincajuns.com)

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