ESPN Men's Basketball

MONROE, La. -- Shawn Long recorded his 17th double-double of the season to lead Louisiana-Lafayette to a 71-63 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Saturday night in Sun Belt Conference play.

The Ragin' Cajuns (12-19, 8-12) will play either Troy or North Texas in the opening round of the conference tournament Friday. The season ends for the Warhawks (4-22, 3-17), who've lost five straight and 14 of 15.

Long scored 17 points and took 10 rebounds. He got double-figure scoring help from Bryant Mbamalu and Alan-Michael Thompson, who scored 13 points apiece.

The Ragin' Cajuns led 34-26 at halftime, then withstood a second-half onslaught by Amos Olatayo. He had a game-high 21 points, including 9 of 14 foul shots. Olatayo scored 10 straight Warhawks points to get them within 66-62 with 1:57 left, but no closer.

Teammates Trent Mackey and Jayon James scored 12 points each.

Louisiana-Lafayette hit 8 of 19 treys, Louisiana-Monroe 5 of 22.