On Monday night, App State fell to Sun Belt conference foe Louisiana 81-73, dropping the third of its last four games and resulting in a 9-7 overall record. 

The Mountaineers sprinted to an early 34-19 lead thanks to a 14-0 run. The run was led by senior forward Isaac Johnson as he drilled three three-pointers in under two minutes.

Louisiana answered the Mountaineer run with an 8-0 run of their own, cutting the lead down to seven with five minutes to go in the half. 

The Mountaineer lead would remain seven heading into the break, as App State led 46-39 at halftime. 

The Ragin’ Cajuns dominated the second half and took the lead with 8:50 to play and never looked back. 

App State clawed back within six at 76-70 with just under two minutes remaining, but never scored again. 

Junior guard Justin Forrest produced another prolific offensive game, dropping 21 points and four assists. However, the high-scoring guard was also responsible for seven turnovers. This was Forrest’s eighth time scoring over 20 points this season and his fifth in the last six outings. 

Isaac Johnson and sophomore guard Adrian Delph were the only other Mountaineers to reach double figures. Johnson posted 12 points and two rebounds as he knocked in a career-high four three-pointers, while Delph produced 14 points and four rebounds. 

Senior guard Michael Bibby added nine points off of the bench, tying his career-high as a Mountaineer. All nine of his points came from beyond the arc in his 3-6 three-point shooting effort. 

App State will travel to UT Arlington for another in-conference matchup on Thursday night.