MOBILE, Ala. ? The ULM men's basketball team made a push towards the end, but a cold stretch in each half proved to be too much in a 67-60 loss at South Alabama inside the Mitchell Center on Saturday evening.
It was feast or famine for ULM (9-18, 5-11 Sun Belt) all night as the Warhawks struggled to find a consistent flow on offense. ULM finished the game converting on 35.1 percent of its shots from the field.
South Alabama (17-11, 10-7 Sun Belt) controlled the paint .on the evening to finish converting 46.6 percent of its attempts on the afternoon. A poor evening from the free throw stripe (11-of-24) allowed the Warhawks to stay within striking distance, but ULM could never overcome the cold spells.
DeAndre Coleman finished with a game-high 21 points while chipping in 10 rebounds. Fellow post Brandon Davis added 16 points and 14 boards while Domonic Tilford contributed 11 points.
For the Warhawks, sophomore Lawrence Gilbert led three in double digits with 14 points. Juniors Malcolm Thomas and Kenneth Averette added 11 apiece
Through the game's first five minutes the Warhawks matched the Jaguars scoring blow for blow and held a lead at 9-8 on a converted three-point play from Forbes.
The offense would then fall into a deep recession, missing on eight of its next 10 shots to allow South Alabama to rattle off an 18-4 run and double up the Warhawks, 26-13, with 7:47 remaining.
Losing Turner to his third foul in the opening half, ULM went with a smaller line-up and the offense took off. Playing with four guards, the Warhawks responded with a 17-7 run of its own over the next seven minutes to cut the deficit to 33-30 with 43 seconds left in the period.
The Jaguars would tip a missed shot in at the buzzer to push their advantage back to five points, 35-30, at the break.
Out of the intermission the offense would once again desert the Warhawks, allowing the Jaguars to push their advantage back into double digits by the 14:54 mark. ULM's offense didn't start hitting again until South Alabama had built a 15-point advantage ? its largest of the game ? with eight minutes remaining.
ULM cut it back into single digits for good with four minutes remaining, but couldn't draw any closer than the final 67-60 margin.
The Warhawks return to Fant-Ewing Coliseum to close out the 2008-09 regular season with a pair of divisional games. ULM will host Denver on Thursday at 7 p.m. before honoring its seniors against Arkansas State on Saturday.
