Louisiana posted a victory in its Sun Belt opener for the third straight season. The Cajuns built a double-digit lead by halftime and held off a second-half rally by FAU for an 81-74 victory at the Cajundome.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team built an 11-point halftime lead and held off a second-half rally by Florida Atlantic to post an 81-74 victory in the 2009-10 Sun Belt Conference opener Saturday afternoon at the Cajundome.

The Ragin' Cajuns (3-4, 1-0 Sun Belt) claimed their second straight victory and improved to 14-5 all-time in SBC openers (6-3 in openers at the Cajundome).

Tyren Johnson posted a game-high 23 points to lead UL - his second straight outing with 20-plus points. Travis Bureau added 19 points and a team-high four assists.

The Owls (4-4, 0-1 Sun Belt) received a team-high 23 points from Raymond Taylor. Greg Gantt scored 21.

The Cajuns went into the locker room with a 45-34 lead. In the opening half, Louisiana shot 7-of-14 from three-point range, registered 16 points in the paint and scored 15 points off FAU turnovers.

The Owls began the second half on a 9-2 run to chip into the UL lead. A pair of Andre Mattison free throws at 16:33 dropped the lead to 47-43.

Chris Gradnigo broke free in the lane for a layup at 16:06 to keep the Owls at bay. Then at 14:05 Johnson hit a jumper to increase the Cajuns lead to 51-43.

FAU clawed back, again, getting a triple from Shavar Richardson at 13:46 and a three-point play from Sanchez Hughley at 13:13. The latter brought the Owls back within four points, 53-49.

Turnovers and missed shots kept the Cajuns off the scoreboard and the Owls used their second 9-2 run of the half to take a 58-57 lead by the 8:44 mark.

Randell Daigle returned the lead to UL with a baseline jumper at 7:59 and on the next possession Gradnigo stole the ball and hit a layup for a 61-58 edge with 7:18 remaining.

FAU drew within two points, 69-67, after a basket by Gantt at 2:04. UL turned to Johnson on back-to-back possessions for inside baskets, the last coming at 1:03 for a 73-68 lead.

The win by UL continues the trend of the home team winning each meeting in the series which is now even a 2-apiece.

After falling behind 3-0, a Johnson triple on the right elbow at 17:39 made it 5-all. After the teams traded scores, Gantt returned the lead to FAU at 16:46 with a triple of his own.

Bureau connected on a triple at 15:09 - the 100th of his career - to forge a 10-all tie. He helped the Cajuns into another tie (13-13) at 12:48 with his second 3-point make of the game.

Willie Lago gave UL its first lead, 16-13, with a three at the top of the key on the next possession.

A five-point run during the nine-minute mark helped the Cajuns stretch their lead to eight points. Gradnigo completed a three-point play at 9:47 and it was 22-16. Then after a steal, Bureau rolled home a layup at 9:15.

The Owls responded with a 6-0 run capped off by two Gantt freebies at 7:23 that cut the UL lead to 24-22.

The Cajuns lead returned to eight points, 36-28, at 4:15 when Daigle lobbed the ball to Johnson for a slam dunk.

Louisiana used a pair of defensive stops in the final two minutes and translated those into points which moved the lead into double figures. Lago drained a triple at the top of the key at 2:02 that made it 41-30 and after another stop Daigle hit a layup at 1:38 for a 13-point edge.

The Ragin' Cajuns step out of Sun Belt Conference play for the final segment on non-conference games. UL travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., for a rematch with Southern Miss on Tuesday, Dec. 15. The game is the first of five games from Dec. 15-28 to wrap up non-conference play.

Louisiana's next home game is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 21 against Tulane. Game time is 7:05 p.m.


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