MONROE, La. - The ULM men's basketball team came up short in a 61-46 loss
to rival UL-Lafayette Saturday evening on Senior Night inside Fant-Ewing
Coliseum.
The night got off to good start as the Warhawks honored seniors Tommie
Sykes and Lawrence Gilbert then honored former player Glynn Saulters by
retiring his No. 12 jersey at halftime, but the Warhawks never got on track
offensively, shooting 35.8 percent from the field. The Ragin' Cajuns countered
with 42.4 percent shooting and six 3-pointers to extend their winning streak to
11 straight entering the conference tournament.
Junior guard Fred Brown scored a team-high 13 points on 6-of-14
shooting and was the only ULM player to notch double figures in scoring. Sykes
and junior center Fabio Ribeiro contributed nine points each.
The Warhawks (7-23, 2-14 SBC) finished the regular season with a 4-9
record overall, but went 0-8 against Sun Belt teams. It marks the first time
since Fant-Ewing opened prior to the 1971-72 season that Warhawks have gone
winless at home during conference play.
UL-Lafayette (14-14, 11-5 SBC) led by double figures for most of the
second half and built their lead as large as 20 points with 4:24 remaining. J.J.
Thomas led ULL with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Josh Brown added 12 points
and La'Ryan Gary chipped in 11 points.
After the Warhawks scored the opening five points of the second half to
get within six, UL-Lafayette rallied off the next ten points to build its
biggest lead at 41-25. ULL got the final four points in transition as Thomas
and Gary each had fast-break layups.
The Ragin' Cajuns knocked in six 3-pointers in the first half to build
a 31-20 advantage at halftime. UL-Lafayette scored seven of the final nine
points in the half with ULM's only points coming from Sykes at the line with less
than a second remaining.
Randell Daigle and Brown hit back-to-back 3s to give the Ragin' Cajuns
a 30-18 advantage with 1:45 to play in the opening half. Brown added a free
throw to cap a 7-0 run and push the UL-Lafayette to 13 points with 1:05
remaining.
UL-Lafayette used a 10-2 run to build a 20-11 lead at the 8:44 mark.
The Ragin' Cajuns grabbed their initial double-digit lead of the first half at
24-13 on a jumper from Brown with 5:59 remaining.
Up next, the Warhawks head to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament that
will be played March 5-8 in Hot Springs, Ark.
