by Carlos Monarrez, USA TODAY Sports

EAST LANSING — The Michigan State Spartans avoided an upset with a close-call 63-60 victory against Louisiana-Lafayette today at the Breslin Center.

The Spartans (5-1) led, 62-60, with about 8 seconds left when the Ragin’ Cajuns (2-4) nearly tied it. But Shawn Long’s layup hung up against the edge of the rim and Branden Dawson snatched the rebound to secure the win for MSU.

Louisiana clawed back with a 10-3 run in the final 2 ½ minutes.

Keith Appling led the Spartans with 19 points and Dawson had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Elfrid Payton led Louisiana with 20 points and Long, a 6-foot-9 talented scoring center, cooled down after a hot start and scored 16.

The Spartans next play the Miami Hurricanes (3-1) at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in an ESPN game.

Monarrez also writes for the Detroit Free Press.

… [For more on No. 19 Michigan State survives Louisiana-Lafayette, click here.]