Bartley, Ragin’ Cajuns get 20th win with 80-59 victory at ULM

MONROE – Another game. Another dominating performance for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team.

Frank Bartley scored a game-high 22 points to lead five players in double figures and Louisiana led from wire-to-wire in improving to 20-3 overall and 10-0 in Sun Belt Conference play with an 80-59 win over ULM on Saturday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The win marked the fourth 20-win season for Louisiana in the past five years and marked the earliest time in school history to reach the feat. The Ragin’ Cajuns won their 10th straight game – all by double digits – and extended its Sun Belt Conference win streak to 16 games dating back to last season.

Malik Marquetti scored 17 points for Louisiana with JaKeenan Gant adding 14 points, Bryce Washington 12 and Johnathan Stove 12. The Ragin’ Cajuns scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed after Washington scored on a layup before Bartley and Marquetti answered with 3-pointers.

ULM (9-13, 3-7 SBC) closed to within 11-8 on a three-point play by Marvin Jean-Pierre with 14:08 left in the first half, but Louisiana pulled away scoring the game’s next nine points with Bartley scoring on a jumper in the lane before Marquetti drained a 3-pointer.

A 3-pointer by Marquetti with 4:53 remaining in the first half pushed Louisiana’s lead to 35-24, but the Warhawks would close out the half with an 11-3 run to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns lead to 38-33 at the break.

That would be as close as the Warhawks would get as Louisiana opened the second half on a 21-5 run that was capped by a pair of Bartley free throws with 12:41 remaining.

Louisiana finished 29-for-53 (54.7 percent) from the floor while holding ULM to 22-for-58 (37.9 percent). Washington grabbed nine rebounds for Louisiana, extending his career total to 994, while Marcus Stroman dished out seven assists.

Jordon Harris led ULM with 16 points with Travis Munnings adding 14. Jean-Pierre pulled down a team-high seven boards for the Warhawks, who had their two-game win streak snapped.

Louisiana will return to action on Thursday when it travels to Atlanta to face Georgia State in a 6:15 p.m. (CST) contest at the GSU Sports Arena.