LAFAYETTE, La. ? Louisiana-Lafayette had the offense going early and rolled to an 86-58 win over the ULM men's basketball team in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams in Lafayette, La. on Monday night inside the Cajundome.
Travis Bureau exemplified the hot-shooting Ragin' Cajuns' night after connecting on 8-of-9 shots from the field to finish with a team-high 18 points. Bureau helped set the pace for a balanced ULL attack that featured four players in double digits.
Louisiana-Lafayette (4-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) finished by connecting on 52.5 percent of their shots on the game.
For ULM (2-7, 0-1 Sun Belt), sophomore Rudy Turner finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. He was joined in double figures for the Warhawks by sophomore Lawrence Gilbert who scored 16 in the effort.
The cold shooting plagued the Warhawks early in the opening period. After scoring on two of its first three shots, ULM would go 8-of-26 down the stretch.
The Ragin' Cajuns took advantage of the slow ULM start and came out firing on all cylinders. ULL went 5-of-5 in the opening four minutes to stake an early 15-6 lead at the 15:35 mark.
The ULL lead hovered around 10 points over the next four minutes before the Warhawks were able to chip away at the advantage.
After ULM cut the deficit to 34-29 with five minutes remaining in the opening period, Louisiana-Lafayette used one final surge to push its advantage to double digits before the intermission. ULL led, 45-34, off 60 percent shooting from the field going into the locker rooms.
Out of the lockers, the Warhawks were able to slow the Ragin' Cajun offense and crawled to within seven points at 56-49 with 10:07 remaining.
The offense would once again desert ULM and Louisiana-Lafayette was able to use quick outlet passes on missed jumpers to extend its advantage in transition.
The Ragin' Cajuns finished the game on a 28-9 run over the final 10 minutes to claim the league-opening victory.
Having wrapped up a season-long five-game road trip, the Warhawks will return to Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Friday for a 7 p.m. league tilt against in-state foe New Orleans.
