LAFAYETTE, La. – The Texas State men's basketball team fell 80-54 Thursday night in the Cajundome to a hot shooting Louisiana-Lafayette team. The Ragin' Cajuns made 51.9 percent of their shots with a 59.1 field goal percentage in the first half.
 
With the loss, the Bobcats fall to 9-8 overall and 3-5 in the Sun Belt Conference while ULL is now 10-8 and 6-3 in conference play.
 
Tying his career-high with 14 points and setting a new career best of four steals was Ojai Black. He also dished out a team-high five assists and committed just one turnover. Kavin Gilder-Tilbury was the only other Texas State player to reached double figures with 13 points. He also added three steals and two assists.
 
Bobby Conley grabbed a team-high four rebounds off the bench. The trio of Emani Gant, Kendell Ramlal and Gilder-Tilbury all recorded a block.
 
For ULL, Shawn Long recorded a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds. Devonta Walker added 16 points and Jay Wright recorded 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
 
The Cajuns began the game on a 7-2 run with the Cats' only points coming on a layup by Gilder-Tilbury. Another bucket from Gilder-Tilbury with 11:10 left in the first half cut Texas State's deficit to 13-10, the closest the Bobcats would get the entire game.
 
Down by 17 in the second half, Texas State responded with an 11-2 run capped off by two free throws from K.J. Malveau. Gilder-Tilbury accounted for seven of the points during the scoring stretch. The Ragin' Cajuns answered back with 10 straight points to dash any hopes for a Bobcat comeback.
 
Austin Evans recorded the final points of the game when he converted an old-fashion three-point play with 34 seconds to play.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a 2 p.m. contest at UL Monroe on Saturday.