ULM Warhawks

 
 
ULM Basketball Notes: Game 31 vs. Georgia Southern
 
ULM FACES NO. 3 SEED GEORGIA SOUTHERN  –
Fresh from its 76-54 first-round win over Arkansas State, No. 6 seed ULM (16-14, 9-9) faces No. 3 seed Georgia Southern (20-11, 11-7) in the Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
 
The Warhawks won the only regular-season meeting between the two teams, posting a 66-64 overtime victory at Georgia Southern on Feb. 8. ULM is seeking its third trip to the tournament semifinals (2015 and 2016).
 
THE STARTING FIVE –
• ULM, picked to finish 12th in the Sun Belt preseason poll, got off to a 1-6 start in conference play, but the  Warhawks won eight of their last 11 league games to climb into a tie for fifth place (9-9) in the final standings.
 
• ULM junior forward Travis Munnings (second team) and senior guard/forward Sam McDaniel (third team), who combine to average nearly 32 points and 13 rebounds per game, were named All-Sun Belt, as selected by the league's head basketball coaches and media panel. In addition, guard Michael Ertel was selected Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. The trio of Munnings, McDaniel and Ertel combine to average 43 points per game, accounting for 61 percent of ULM's scoring.
                                                  
• ULM's starting lineup features four double-figure scorers, in Travis Munnings (16.1 points per game), Sam McDaniel (15.5 ppg.), Michael Ertel (11.5 ppg.) and Marvin Jean-Pierre (10.7 ppg.) . All four players rank among the Sun Belt's Top 30 in scoring: Munnings (11th), McDaniel (12th), Ertel (23rd) and Jean-Pierre (28th).
 
• ULM ranks among the Sun Belt leaders in 3-point field goals made (second at 9.0 per game), assist-to-turnover ratio (second at 1.2), 3-point field-goal percentage (third at .365), scoring defense (third at 68.1 ppg.), assists (third at 14.2 pg.), turnover margin (third at +1.7 pg.), field-goal percentage defense (fifth at .427), free-throw percentage (fifth at .714), field-goal percentage (sixth at .440) and steals (sixth at 6.5 pg.).
 
• Three-point field goals account for 38.5 percent of ULM's scoring (271 3-pointers made; 813 of 2,114 points). The Warhawks have attempted at least 20 3-pointers in 22 of 30 games.
 
ULM's 271 3-pointers made in 2017-18 are the second-highest single-season total in school history (school record: 287 made, 2006-07).
 
THE LAST TIME OUT –
Sun Belt Championship First Round (March 7, 2018, in New Orleans) – Marvin Jean-Pierre hit 10-of-13 shots from the field and matched his career high with 23 points while ULM's defense limited Arkansas State to its third-lowest point total of the season, as the Warhawks cruised to a 76-54 victory in the first round of the Sun Belt Championship Wednesday night (March 7).
 
Last Saturday, A-State completed a regular-season sweep over ULM, 83-79, in Monroe, Louisiana. The Red Wolves shot 61 percent (17-of-28) from the field, including 8-of-12 3-pointers (67 percent), while building an 18-point halftime lead at 50-32.
 
ULM (16-14) scored the first five points of the game and built an 16-8 lead on Michael Ertel's 3-pointer from the left baseline with 11:34 left in the first half. A-State (11-21) answered with a 6-0 spurt to cut its deficit to 16-14 on two free throws from Grantham Gillard with 9:45 remaining. A deep 3-pointer from the left wing by Jordon Harris sparked a 14-5 run and a layup by Sam Alabakis with :30 to play in the first half sent the Warhawks to the locker room with a 14-point lead at 39-25.
 
Travis Munnings hit 6-of-7 field-goal attempts in the first 20 minutes and scored 13 points for ULM. The Warhawks also got 10 first-half points from Ertel.
 
ULM shot 59 percent (17-of-29) from the floor in the first half while limiting A-State to 32-percent field-goal shooting (10-of-31), including only 1-of-10 from 3-point range.
 
The Warhawks broke the game open by outscoring the Red Wolves, 22-4, over a 9:58 stretch in the second half. Jean-Pierre's dunk gave ULM its largest lead at 63-33 with 8:06 left in the second half. Jean-Pierre scored 11 consecutive for the Warhawks during a 3:14 span in the second half.
 
Jean-Pierre posted 16 second-half points in 13 minutes, hitting all seven of his field-goal attempts including two 3s. ULM also got 13 points from Munnings (all coming in the first half) and 12 from Ertel.
 
For the game, the Warhawks shot 50 percent (31-of-62) from the floor, including 37 percent (7-of-19) from behind the 3-point arc. With its shooting performance, ULM improved to 9-1 on the season when hitting 50 percent of better from the field.
 
Ty Cockfield connected on 6-of-15 field-goal attempts and became the only A-State player to score in double figures, finishing with 18 points.
 
ULM/GEORGIA SOUTHERN SERIES NOTES –
Friday's game marks the 19th meeting between ULM and Georgia Southern. The Warhawks lead the all-time series, 11-7. The Eagles have won five of the last eight meetings in the series.
 
The Warhawks are 0-1 all-time in Sun Belt Championship games played against Georgia Southern, falling in the 2015 semifinals, 44-43.
 
THE REGULAR-SEASON RECAP –
ULM 66, Georgia Southern 64 – overtime (Feb. 8, 2018, in Statesboro, Ga.) – Travis Munnings and Sam McDaniel combined for 49 points to lead ULM to its first road win of the 2017-18 season, a 66-64 overtime victory over Georgia Southern in Hanner Fieldhouse. McDaniel's 3-pointer from the left wing with 11 seconds left in overtime gave ULM the lead for good at 65-64.
 
There were 10 ties and 13 lead changes in the game, and the largest lead for either team was only five points.
 
McDaniel's 3-pointer from the left wing gave ULM its largest lead at 12-7 with 14:52 left in the first half. Georgia Southern took an 18-16 lead on Tookie Brown's steal and layup with 7:38 remaining in the opening half. ULM (10-12, 4-7 Sun Belt) closed out the half on a 6-2 run and a 3-pointer from Jordon Harris out of the left corner with 1:38 to play sent ULM to the locker room with a 29-25 halftime advantage.
 
Munnings, who scored 14 first-half points, became the 37th player in ULM history to join the 1,000-point club with his 3-pointer from the left baseline with 17:40 left in the first half. The Warhawks limited Georgia Southern to 10-of-34 shooting (29 percent) from the field in the opening half and outrebounded the Eagles, 24-18, in the first 20 minutes.
 
Georgia Southern (16-9, 7-5) opened the second half with a 9-2 spurt and took a 34-31 lead on Jake Allsmiller's 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 16:34 on the clock. ULM responded with a 10-3 run and moved out to a 41-37 lead as McDaniel hit 2-of-3 free-throw attempts with 13:51 left. The Eagles outscored ULM, 10-1, over the next 5:28 and built their largest lead at 47-42 on Ike Smith's two free throws with 8:23 remaining in the second half. There were three ties and four lead changes over the last eight minutes of regulation. Michael Ertel drove from the left corner to the middle of the lane for a layup to tie the score at 58 with 11 seconds left. Brown missed a deep 3-pointer from the right wing as time expired in regulation.
 
A reverse layup by Munnings gave the Warhawks a 62-59 lead with 3:05 to play in overtime. Georgia Southern scored five-straight points and regained the lead at 64-62 on Brown's two free throws and Smith's 3-pointer from the left baseline with 2:00 remaining. McDaniel buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to put ULM ahead to stay at 65-64 with 11 seconds to play. McDaniel converted 1-of-2 free throws with :01 left, and the Eagles failed to get a desperation shot off before time expired.
 
It marked ULM's first victory in Statesboro since Feb. 7, 2015 – also won by the Warhawks in overtime, 71-68.
 
Munnings recorded his second double-double of the season and 13th of his career, finishing with a game-high 26 points to go along with a career-best 20 rebounds. He hit 9-of-17 field-goal attempts, including 5-of-9 3-pointers, and produced three steals.
 
McDaniel fell one rebound short of a double-double, tallying 23 points and nine boards. He connected on 6-of-11 shots from 3-point range.
 
Georgia Southern got 15 points each from Smith and Allsmiller while Mike Hughes contributed 14. After going 0-for-5 from 3 in the first half, Allsmiller made 4-of-7 3-pointers in the second half.
 
Brown, who entered the game as the Sun Belt's fourth-leading scorer at 19.0 points per game, went 2-of-11 from the field, including 0-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and finished with just seven points. He had scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games.
 
ULM/SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY –
ULM is making its 12th appearance in Sun Belt Tournament history. The Warhawks are 6-10 all-time (.375) in the conference's postseason tournament, including two trips to the semifinals (2015 and 2016) and one championship game appearance (2016).
 
SHARP-SHOOTING WARHAWKS –
ULM is 9-1 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field in 2017-18, with wins over Rust College (.603), Jackson State (.500), Millsaps College (.582), Centenary (.527), Coastal Carolina (.500), South Alabama (.527),  Georgia State (.567), Texas State (.545) and Arkansas State (.500), and its only loss came in the regular-season finale against Arkansas State (.509).
 
ERTEL EMERGES AS CONSISTENT SCORING THREAT –
Guard Michael Ertel, who has started 25 of 30 games and ranks third on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game, was selected Sun Belt Freshman of the Year. Ertel became the first Warhawk to earn conference Freshman of the Year honors since ULM joined the league in 2007-08.
     
The 6-foot-2 Ertel has scored in double figures 15 times, including 10 league games. He also ranked as ULM's third-leading scoring in Sun Belt play, averaging 13.0 points per game. His 51 3-pointers ranks third on the team.
 
His scoring average has increased to 14.4 points over the last 12 games (ULM: 9-3 record). Ertel is shooting 46 percent (67-of-147) from the field during that stretch.
 
He scored 12 points in his Sun Belt Championship debut against Arkansas State (5-of-12 FG shooting).
 
The Indianapolis, Indiana, native scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half in the regular-season home finale against Arkansas State (5-of-7 FG shooting including 3-of-3 3-pointers in the second half).
 
He contributed 17 points in ULM's 66-62 win at South Alabama.
 
Ertel hit 8-of-12 field-goal attempts in ULM's 79-71 victory over Texas State and finished with 19 points and five assists. He tossed in a team-high 20 points in the Warhawks' 84-71 win over UT Arlington while connecting on 9-of-18 shots from the floor.
 
Ertel scored eight of his 21 points in overtime in the Warhawks' 90-82 win at Georgia State, hitting 8-of-13 shots from the floor including 3-of-6 3-pointers. He also added five rebounds and a season-high six assists against the Panthers.
 
Ertel added 17 points (6-of-11 FG shooting) and seven rebounds against South Alabama.
 
He led ULM in scoring in three-straight games, scoring a combined 56 points (18.7 ppg.) against Texas State, UT Arlington and Troy. Ertel finished with a season-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 2-of-6 3-pointers, in the Warhawks' 76-71 victory over Troy.
 
He scored 18 points at Texas State (7-of-13 FG shooting), with 16 coming of those in the second half. Ertel netted 13 of his 16 points in the second half at UTA (4-of-9 3FG shooting) and collected a season-high eight rebounds.
 
He hit 5-of-8 field-goal attempts, including 3-of-5 3-pointers, and finished with 15 points against Appalachian State.
 
ULM Basketball Signs Williams to NLI –
Javien "JD" Williams, a 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard from Tallahassee Community College, has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend ULM and play basketball in 2018-19.
 
As a sophomore, Williams earned First-Team All-Panhandle Conference honors after leading the Eagles in scoring at 16.8 points per game. He scored in double figures in 22 of 27 games and finished third in the league in scoring. Williams increased his scoring average to 20.8 points in Panhandle Conference games, including a season-high 33 points at Northwest Florida State College (11-of-19 field-goal shooting, including 7-of-12 3-pointers).
 
"JD is a wing player, who is an electric athlete," ULM head basketball coach Keith Richard said. "His playmaking ability will add a nice dimension to our team next year."
 
A Birmingham, Ala., native, Williams began his collegiate career at UAB, where appeared in 33 games as a freshman in 2016-17, including three starting assignments. He averaged 4.0 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists while playing 15.3 minutes per game. Williams reached double figures in scoring five times, including a career-high 21 points at Stephen F. Austin. He hit 6-of-9 shots from the field en route to a 13-point effort against Southern Miss. Williams contributed 14 points and collected a career-best seven rebounds at Rice. He had a solid all-around performance against Miles College, with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists. He posted 11 points and three rebounds in his collegiate debut against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
 
Williams was named Alabama's 2016 Class 6A Player of the Year after averaging 24.2 points, 12.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists as a senior at Woodlawn High School. He scored 36 points, grabbed nine rebounds and recorded five assists against J.O. Johnson. He finished fourth in the voting for Alabama's Mr. Basketball in 2016.
 
As a junior, Williams averaged 21.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals while leading the Colonels to the 2015 Class 6A Final Four. A finalist for the Birmingham News 2015 Player of the Year Award, he also was selected to the Alabama High School Athletic Association All-State Third Team and Birmingham News All-Metro First Team.