App State men’s basketball lost their first conference game in Lafayette, Louisiana, to the Ragin’ Cajuns Wednesday night. 

Junior guard Dior Conners, graduate student forward CJ Huntley, graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill, redshirt senior guard Myles Tate and freshman forward Michael Marcus Jr. were the Black and Gold’s starting five. 

The Mountaineers’ offense showed early signs of struggle with many substitutions within the first four minutes. The Ragin’ Cajuns proved their ability to make shots from the arc, putting App State down by 14 with 10:32 left in the first half. 

The Mountaineers went 1-5 at the free throw line nearing the end of the first half. Although Huntley made some big defensive plays for App State, he was taken out of the game toward the end of the half with 3 fouls. 

The Black and Gold struggled from beyond the arc going 0-7 from three-point range. Senior forward Jalil Beaubrun led the pack with 5 points in the first half. 

In the second half, the Mountaineers’ offense started to get going. At 15:08, Conners made the first three- pointer of the game for App State. 

Although the Black and Gold’s defense started to play more aggressively, App State could not shake a 15-point deficit until 7:53 left in the second half. The Mountaineers got their deficit down to 48-58 at 4:26 leaving some room for a comeback. Conners amped up and made his second three of the game, leaving the Black and Gold with only a 6-point deficit coming to 55-61 with two minutes left. 

Tate knocked down a step-back shot from the arc leaving the Mountaineers trailing by 7 with 9.4 seconds on the clock. 

Conners ended up being a bright light for the Mountaineers’ offense scoring 15 points and 4 rebounds. Tate trailed behind with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. 

The Black and Gold ended the night with a loss on the road 62-68. App State shot 22.2% from the three-point line and 41.7% from field goal range.