I found this:
So, in the last 6 years the Cajuns have made it to the conference tournament championship game one time. In 2014 the Cajuns beat the Panthers in OT and Bryant Mbamalu was the MVP. The Cajuns have never made it back to the conference finals since then. In 2018 they lost to UTA in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, GAST has won the tournament 3 times in the last 5 years. They have been in the finals 4 times in the last 6 years.
I believe Bob Marlin said he wanted to compete for championships. You cannot compete for the championship if you do not make it to the finals.
2014
Louisiana–Lafayette 82–81 (OT) Georgia State Bryant Mbamalu, Louisiana-Lafayette
Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA)
2015
Georgia State 38–36 Georgia Southern Kevin Ware, Georgia State
Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA)
2016
Little Rock 70–50 Louisiana–Monroe Roger Woods, Little Rock
Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA)
2017
Troy 59–53 Texas State Wesley Person Jr., Troy
Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA)
2018
Georgia State 74–61 Texas–Arlington D'Marcus Simonds, Georgia State
Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA)
2019
Georgia State 73–64 Texas–Arlington Malik Benlevi, Georgia State
Campus Sites – First Round
Lakefront Arena (New Orleans, LA)