MONROE, La. – Jordon Harris took an inbounds pass from Brandon Newman, sprinted the length of the floor in 4.3 seconds to score the game-winning layup at the buzzer as ULM defeated Grambling State, 59-57, on Tuesday, Dec. 12 in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks snapped a two-game losing skid and extended their series winning streak to seven-straight games over Grambling State.
 
ULM (4-5) never trailed and led by as many as 13 points in the second half, but the Tigers went on a 29-16 run over the next 12:51 and tied the game at 57-57 on Devante Jackson's layup with 4.3 seconds left on the clock. The Warhawks called a 30-second timeout and head coach Keith Richard diagramed the game-winning play.
 
"We've lost so many close games in the last year and nine games, it was nice to be on the winning side of one," Richard said. "It was an interesting game. We led most of the game and were up 13 in the second half. We had a chance to put the game away but didn't. It proves you're never out of a game.
 
"Jordon Harris executed the final play exactly how we drew it up. With 4.3 seconds left, I told him he had four dribbles to get all the way to the rim (Harris dribbled five times.). We put him on one side of the floor and wanted him to move to the other to catch the ball, so he was heading up the court and dribbling with his right hand. We had five guards in the lineup, so we wanted to spread the floor. Jordon is one of our faster up-and-down players, so he had the option of taking the ball all the way to the basket or if the defense helped, kicking to an open shooter. He had a good push; made a great decision and got all the way to the rim."
 
ULM scored the first 10 points of the game as Grambling State went scoreless for nearly seven minutes. The Warhawks built a 12-point lead at 14-2 on Sam McDaniel's jumper with 11:32 left in the first half. The Tigers responded with an 11-3 run and pulled to within 17-13 on Kareem Wright's three-pointer with 4:31 remaining in the opening half. The Warhawks scored 12 points off Grambling State's eight first-half turnovers and took a 24-18 lead to the locker room. ULM and Grambling State struggled offensively in the first half, as the two teams shot a combined 12-of-44 (.273) from the field, including 4-of-23 (.174) from three-point range.
 
The Warhawks opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt and took a 31-20 on a layup by Travis Munnings with 17:02 left. A three-pointer from Michael Ertel gave ULM its largest lead at 41-28 with 12:55 remaining. Grambling State answered with a 9-0 run and cut its deficit to 41-37 as Axel Mpoyo converted 1-of-2 free-throw attempts with 8:54 left. McDaniel drove the left baseline for a dunk with shot clock winding down to give ULM a 49-43 lead with 4:34 to play in regulation. Munnings buried a three-pointer out of the left corner as the Warhawks took a 55-49 lead with 2:18 remaining. The Tigers put together an 8-2 run and managed their only tie of the game at 57-57 on Jackson's layup.
 
Grambling State (3-7) shot 65 percent (13-of-20) from the floor in the second half, while ULM hit 52 percent (14-of-27) of its field-goal attempts.
 
"Give Grambling credit because it hung in there and stayed within striking distance," Richard said. "They went zone and we got nothing inside; and had good looks against the zone but missed some open shots. As we tried to manage our foul situation, some guys had to play extended minutes and fatigue began to set in during the second half. Grambling shot a high percentage from the field in the second half because it shot a ton of layups. We got shaky against the press and those turnovers turned into layups. Grambling did exactly what it had to do to be in a position to steal a win on the road.
 
"We've got to find a way to get to the free-throw line more and get the ball inside more against the zone. We went to the free-throw line 12 times in the first half and finished with 15 attempts in the game. We were unaggressive in the second half, and we're naturally an unaggressive team. We have to do a better job of scoring inside, especially when we're not shooting a great percentage from the three. We lived off the three-point line in the second half, and as a result, we we're in a fight to the very end."
 
Munnings (game-high 19 points) and McDaniel (17) combined to score 36 points. Munnings, who also collected a game-high eight rebounds, scored 15 second-half points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. McDaniel made 5-of-9 field-goal attempts after halftime and finished with 13 second-half points.
 
Three Tigers scored in double figures, led by Jackson who contributed 14 points off the bench. Grambling State also got 11 points from Ivy Smith Jr. and 10 from Mpoyo.
 
ULM continues its three-game homestand against Millsaps College on Monday, Dec. 18, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.