TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- ULM put
together one of its best performances of the young season, but it wasn't enough
as Florida State took control down the stretch en route to a 63-48 victory on
Monday evening inside the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Sophomore guard Trent Mackey paced the Warhawks with a career-high 22
points on 8-of-18 shooting, including 6 of 12 from 3-point range. Mackey also
had a career-best four steals and three assists in 39 minutes.
Junior forward Jayon James
reached double figures in rebounds for the third straight game with a
career-high-tying 12 on Monday. James also had five of the Warhawks'
season-high 15 assists on the night.
ULM hung tough until Florida State scored seven straight points to take
a 54-40 lead with 5:49 to play in the game. ULM had rallied, keyed by some big
shots from Mackey, to get within six at 41-35 at the 11:18 mark.
The Warhawks pushed out to an early seven-point advantage and led for
much of the half before Florida State surged to a 30-25 halftime lead. The
Seminoles extended its lead to double figures with five straight points to open
the second half, but were unable to pull away from the pesky Warhawks until
late.
Mackey scored on a layup and then hit a 3-pointer on the Warhawks' next
possession to cut the Florida State lead to 38-32 with 14:03 to play. Mackey knocked
in his fifth and sixth 3-pointers of the game on back-to-back possessions as
ULM crept to within 44-38 with 9:25 remaining.
A pair of free throws by FSU's Okaro White ignited a 7-0 Seminole
run that put the game out of reach in
the final minutes.
Florida State took advantage at the free-throw line, outscoring ULM
20-3 in the game. White led the Seminoles with 19 points and 11 rebounds,
including a 12-of-13 effort from the free-throw line. Aaron Thomas added 17
points and Devon Bookert chipped in 10 points for the Seminoles.
ULM continues its road swing with a trip to UAB on Thursday at 7 p.m.
CT.
