BOONE, N.C. -- UL Lafayette shot 51.7 percent from the field and scored 48 points in the paint to power past Appalachian State University men's basketball, 80-64, in the Mountaineers' first-ever Sun Belt Conference home game on Monday night at the Holmes Center.

Brian Williams led five Ragin' Cajuns in double-figures with a game-high 15 points and propelled UL Lafayette (9-5, 3-0 Sun Belt) to its sixth win in its last seven games.

Appalachian State (4-7, 1-1 Sun Belt) trailed by just two points midway through the first half but saw the deficit balloon to 17 after a 5:02 stretch without a field goal late in the opening period. Milos Kostic ended the drought with a three-pointer at the first-half buzzer but the Mountaineers went into the locker room down 38-24.

After neither team found the bottom of the net in the first two-plus minutes, Chris Burgess finally put the first points on the board with a jumper at the 17:44 mark to give the Mountaineers their only lead of the game.

The Cajuns tied it on Kasey Shepherd's layup on the ensuing possession, then took the lead on a Devonta Walker jumper 30 seconds later and never trailed again.

Appalachian remained within striking distance until the final 10 minutes of the opening half, when UL Lafayette reeled off a 10-2 run to stretch its lead to 23-13 with 7:10 to go.

After Frank Eaves cut the deficit to six points (23-17) with 6:38 remaining, App State went cold and hit just 2-of-8 from the floor to close out the period.

App State cut the deficit to 12 early in the second half but never pulled closer the rest of the way. The Ragin' Cajuns grabbed their first 20-popint lead (56-35) on Shawn Long's dunk with 14:27 left in the ballgame and never led by less than 14 the rest of the way.

Michael Obacha led Appalachian with a season-high 12 points. Tommy Spagnolo added 11 points and freshman Landon Goesling chipped in with a career-high 10 to round out three Mountaineers in double-figures. Obacha and Spagnolo also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds each.

Obacha, Spagnolo and Goesling combined to make 13-of-25 field-goal attempts (.520) but the rest of the squad shoot just 12-of-39 (.308) from the field.

UL Lafayette saw five players score in double figures. Brian Williams poured in a game-high 15 while Bryce Washington added 14 off the bench and ripped down eight boards.

Shepherd finished with 15 while Long and Walker each added 10. Long fell just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.

On the night, the Ragin' Cajuns shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) while limiting Appalachian to just 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the floor. UL Lafayette hauled in 38 rebounds to App State's 36 and dished out 18 assists.

The Mountaineers must rebound quickly as they hit the road again for Sun Belt contests at South Alabama and UALR on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Tipoff for Thursday's contest at South Alabama is slated for 8:05 p.m. (ET).

NOTES: Appalachian State fell to 0-3 all-time against UL Lafayette ... the Ragin' Cajuns 80 points were the second-most by an Appalachian opponent this season (84 - at Furman, Nov. 19) ... for the second-straight game, the Mountaineers shot under 60.0 percent from the charity stripe (58.8 percent) ... freshman forward Griffin Kinney did not play as he returned home on Sunday to attend his grandmother's funeral ... Monday's game was Appalachian's first home game in 29 days ... it was the longest since the Mountaineers went 32 days without a home contest from Nov. 16-Dec. 18, 2010.