ULM Warhawks

LAFAYETTE, La. ? In a heart-breaking and familiar finish Louisiana-Lafayette hit a three in the closing seconds in the second meeting of the season to edge the ULM men's basketball team for a 67-65 win in Lafayette on Valentine's Day Thursday night.

“I thought we played pretty good tonight,” ULM head coach Orlando Early said. “I thought we played well enough to win the game and they hit a shot with six seconds left to beat us. This is just how our season has gone so far and we just came up on the losing end of it tonight.

After junior Tony Hooper hitting a driving lay-up and converted on the free throw shot to give the Warhawks a one point lead Tyren Johnson, a 6-8 forward, hit on his only shot attempt of the game with seven seconds left to give the Ragin' Cajuns the winning score.

Senior Jordan Payne missed a trey with three seconds left, his only miss of the night in a game in which the Warhawks offense attempted a season-low 14 three-point shots. Payne finished with a game-high 20 points and spear-headed a ULM offense that attacked the basket and attempted 28 free throws.

Senior Jonas Brown helped the Warhawks draw first blood in the game, hitting a trey from the right wing at the 18:46 mark for the early 3-0 lead.

ULL answered back, rattling off the next seven points to claim a 7-3 lead with 16:18 left in the period. A pair of free throws by freshman Raphelle Turner and a jumper by Payne keyed a 17-4 ULM run to give the Warhawks a lead they would hold throughout the first half.

The Ragin' Cajuns wouldn't go away and by the 4:44 mark had whittled the eight-point ULM advantage down to one at 21-20.

Payne would score four more and help the Warhawks close the half on an 8-2 run to enter the intermission with a 29-22 lead.

ULM would extend the lead out of the lockers to double digits at 39-29 with 15:23 before the Ragin' Cajuns began a furious comeback. With 8:30 remaining in the game, ULL had claimed its first lead since the game's opening minutes at 47-46.

The two teams traded leads through the final minutes before the flurry of action in the closing seconds.

Payne was joined by Brown (15) and Hooper (13) in double-digit points for the Warhawks while Turner came off the bench to score six points and add eight rebounds. For the Ragin' Cajuns, three players came off the bench to score double-digits led by La'Ryan Gary's 17.