The Spartans were led by junior guard Keith Appling, who finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, with sophomore guard Branden Dawson adding 12 points and eight rebounds.

The Ragin’ Cajuns got off to a hot start, opening the game on a 10-3 run that built a lead they were able to maintain for the first 13 minutes of the game.

A 3-pointer from Brandan Kearney gave the Spartans their first lead, 23-21, with 6:53 to go in the first half and seemed to get MSU going.

The sophomore guard gave the Spartans a lift off the bench, helping MSU to a 33-27 halftime lead as the Spartans’ top scorer in the first half before finishing with a career-high 10 points.

Redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long and sophomore guard Elfrid Payton led the way for Louisiana Lafayette in the first half, combining to score 24 of the team’s 27 points.

Long finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, while Payton added 20 points, six rebounds and seven steals.

MSU opened the second half on a 7-2 run and briefly led by 10 points midway through the period, but Louisiana Lafayette refused to go away, twice cutting the Spartans’ lead to four points with 3-pointers on two of three possessions while spending most of the game within a single-digit margin.

A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Kevin Brown with 1:44 to go in the game again cut MSU’s lead to four, 60-56, and after both teams exchanged a pair of free throws, a turnover by freshman guard Denzel Valentine led to a breakaway layup for Louisiana Lafayette to make it a two-point game, 62-60 with 51 seconds to go.

A failed alley-oop intended for junior forward Adreian Payne gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a chance to tie or take the lead, but a runner from Long wouldn’t fall.

Sophomore guard Branden Dawson made one of two free throws to extend MSU’s lead to three, 63-60, with six seconds remaining and a desperation 3-pointer from Payton wasn’t able to graze the rim.