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Tony Hooper?s Late Heroics Yield 56-54 Season Opening Win for ULM Men?s Basketball

Tony Hooper?s Late Heroics Yield 56-54 Season Opening Win for ULM Men?s Basketball

Men's Basketball

MONROE, La. ? Saving the best for last, the ULM men's basketball team overcame a double-digit second half deficit in the closing seconds for a 56-54 win against Morehead State in the season opening game.

Senior Tony Hooper struggled on offense all game long, going 3-of-15 in the game's first 39 minutes before hitting his last two shots of the game. Hooper hit a three from the wing with 54 seconds remaining to tie the game before hitting a driving lay-up on an isolation play with just over four ticks left. The Houston, Texas, native finished with 14 points on the night.

“I thought it was good for our team,” ULM head coach Orlando Early said. “I am proud of our seniors and their leadership. They have been down before and seen adversity. They stayed the course and it is ironic that at the end of the game we had a senior set the screen [Afam Nweke] and a senior [Hooper] finish strong with the basket.”

ULM (1-0) trailed by as many as 15 in the game, and was behind 43-29 early in the second half before mounting the comeback. The Warhawks buckled down on defense and limited the Eagles to only 19 points in the second half 25 percent shooting from the field.

“I just told them [at the half] that you have to defend,” Early said. “This is about defending and rebounding. I thought we did a good job in the second half. In the first half, Morehead State played with a lot of emotion and energy. They made some tough shots, but I knew that if we do what we do and stay the course, we could find a way. Our guys did a good job.”

It didn't look good for the Warhawks to start the game. Misfiring on offense in the first half, ULM committed 11 turnovers and hit on just over 40 percent of their shots.

Morehead State (0-1) used a 13-2 run early in the opening half to claim a 20-9 advantage at the 11:55 mark in. The two teams traded scores over the remainder of the period, but the Warhawks could not cut significantly into the early deficit.

ULM entered the lockers trailing 35-25.

In the second half it looked like more of the same early on. Morehead State pushed its lead up to 14 with a short burst out of the lockers before the defense locked down. The Eagles could only muster 15 more points in the game's final 16-plus minutes to allow the Warhawk comeback.

In his ULM debut, junior Jarvis Hill scored a game-high 22 points off 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Hill finished with five of the Warhawks six steals. Sophomore Rudy Turner finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists to round out the other double-figure scorers for the Warhawks.

Nweke also pulled down eight rebounds in the effort and helped the Warhawks to a 36-29 advantage on the glass.

Robert Murry scored a team-high 14 points to pace three Eagles in double-digits. Morehead State star forward Kenneth Faried added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 7:39 remaining in the game.

ULM will look to make it two in a row on Monday when it travels to Starkville, Miss., for a 7 p.m. game against Mississippi State.
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