MONROE,
La. ?
The ULM men's basketball team closed the regular season with win, hitting a
pair of free throws in the closing seconds and holding on for a 64-63 victory
over Arkansas State inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Saturday evening.
Junior Dynile Forbes gave the Warhawks the
lead with a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left on the clock. Following
the ensuing timeout, the Red Wolves drove the length of the court and leading
scorer Donald Boone put up a shot from within 10 feet.
Boone's shot grazed off the front of the rim
and ULM senior Afam Nweke ? playing in his final game inside Fant-Ewing
Coliseum ? pulled down the rebound with one second remaining to preserve the
victory.
Nweke finished with a game-high 10 rebounds
and six points. Junior Malcolm Thomas led the Warhawks with 18 points,
sophomore Lawrence Gilbert chipped in 12 and juniors Kenneth Averette and
Forbes added 11 apiece.
For the Red Wolves, Boone scored 18 points to
tie Thomas for game-high honors. Daniel Bryant added 15 points and Eric
McKinney scored 11 with a team-high eight boards.
Nweke opened the Warhawk scoring with a
bucket from 18 feet, but Arkansas State (13-16, 5-13 Sun Belt) was able to
charge in front with an 11-2 run over the first five minutes.
After trading scorers, Arkansas State opened
up its largest lead, 10 points, with 14:01 showing on the clock. Thomas scored
six of the next eight Warhawk points to lead the charge and ? by the 8:32 mark ?
ULM (10-19, 6-12 Sun Belt) had pulled even at 23-23.
With under two minutes remaining ULM had
pulled in front on a leaning jumper by Gilbert, 31-30. The Warhawks held their
advantage and took a one-point lead into the intermission.
Out of the half the game turned into a
see-saw battle as the lead changed hands eight times in the first five minutes
of the second period.
A lay-up by McKinney and a trey by Bryant
with 14:37 remaining helped Arkansas State begin to pull away. With just over
10 minutes remaining, Arkansas State held a nine-point advantage.
ULM quickly whittled the advantage down to
one possession over the next four minutes, but the Red Wolves were able to keep
the Warhawks at bay.
Trailing by three points, 63-60, Forbes
attacked the basket. The Freeport, Bahamas, native went to the charity stripe
four times in the final 30 seconds and converted on each attempt, the last two
giving the Warhawks their first lead in more than 15 minutes.
Nweke secured the win and moved into 16th
place on the all-time rebounding list.
The Warhawks will be on the road in the
tournament's first round although the opponent has yet to be determined. ULM
will know its opening game location following the conclusion of the North Texas
at Denver contest on Sunday afternoon.
