Louisiana-Lafayette tops Texas St. 53-43 in Sun Belt tourney

NEW ORLEANS (AP) Kasey Shepherd scored 13 of his 16 in the second half to help fourth-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette beat No. 8 seed Texas State 53-43 on Friday in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

Jonathan Stove added 10 points, Shawn Long grabbed 11 rebounds and Bryce Washington pulled down 10 for Louisiana-Lafayette (20-12), which will take a seven-game win streak into the semifinals against top-seeded Georgia State on Saturday.

Shepherd scored nine points during a 19-2 run which gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 42-35 lead with 7:31 to play.

Texas State (14-17) pulled within three on a layup by Cameron Naylor about 2 1/2 minutes later, but Louisiana-Lafayette scored nine of the final 11 points to seal it.

Emani Gant and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury scored 10 apiece for the Bobcats, who shot 27.7 percent from the field and were outrebounded 44-28, including 17-8 on the offensive glass.