Box Score LAFAYETTE – Louisiana-Lafayette exploded in the game's final 26 minutes Wednesday night, withstanding a brief rally by Northwestern State en route to a 105-74 whipping of the visiting Demons in the first renewal in 26 years of the state's oldest active college basketball rivalry.

The schools first met in the 1912-13 season and will play at NSU next season. The Cajuns (5-2) got 22 points and 15 rebounds by Shawn Long, 20 points off the bench from Xavian Rimmer, and 17 points and six assists off the bench by Kasey Shepherd. UL-Lafayette sank 53 percent of its shots, 48 percent (10-21) on 3-pointers, and outrebounded the Demons (2-3) by 50-31.

Northwestern picked up 16 points by Jalan West, 11 apiece by DeQuan Hicks and Brison White, and 10 from Zeek Woodley. The Demons hit their first six shots, but then made only 19 of 59 the rest of the night for 38.5 percent, and were a miserable 4-for-25 on 3-pointers.

After seven lead changes, the Ragin' Cajuns pulled away from a 29-26 edge by exploding on a 21-4 run over 3:13, opening a 50-30 lead with 3:01 to go in the first half.

The Demons climbed back within 14 points in the first four minutes after halftime but the comeback stopped there.

"You have to give them credit for playing very well and taking advantage when we left the door open," said NSU coach Mike McConathy. "We tried. We just weren't good enough for long enough. We did fight back and get within 14, and missed a layup, but just didn't sustain that afterward."

It was the third straight loss for NSU after a 111-92 victory at Auburn on Nov. 15. McConathy didn't forsee a blowout loss Wednesday night.

"Somewhere around Opelousas or Carencro I guess we lost the team I was bringing down here. Our approach this week in practice, preparing for this game, was good," he said. "Our performance tonight speaks for itself.

"Sometimes you've got to go all the way to the bottom before you can climb to the top, and we're pretty close to the bottom right now," he said. "We'll go to work tomorrow and get ready for a quality opponent at home Saturday afternoon."

NSU plays host to Niagara Saturday afternoon at 3 in Prather Coliseum.