MONROE, La. - Freddie Goldstein hit a jumper with 32 seconds remaining
as South Alabama squeaked out an 88-86 victory over ULM Saturday inside
Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
With the score tied at 86, Goldstein dribbled the baseline and hit a
floater in the lane to give the Jaguars the lead. The Warhawks had a chance to
tie or take the lead on the final possession, but missed on five attempts
before the clock expired.
Goldstein finished with a game-high 33 points, including nine 3-pointers
for South Alabama, who improved to 14-10 overall, 6-7 in the Sun Belt.
On a night when ULM honored its 1981-82 NCAA Tournament team, the
Warhawks posted their best offensive performance of the season, making 14
3-pointers and topping 80 points for just the second time this season. South
Alabama responded by shooting 53.1 percent and knocking in 14 3-pointers as
well.
Senior guard Fred Brown netted a career-high 28 points, including six
3-pointers, to lead the way for the Warhawks. Brown finished 10 of 15 from the
field and 6 of 10 from 3-point range. Senior Hugh Mingo chipped in 14 points,
sophomore Charles Winborne added 12 points and freshman Trent Mackey finished
with 11 points.
Sophomore Marcelis Hansberry continued his solid play with nine points,
nine assists and four steals. ULM tallied a season-best 23 assists while
committing just 11 turnovers.
The Warhawks led by as many as 13 points in the first half and took a
43-35 advantage into halftime. Goldstein hit a pair of 3-pointers and Javier
Carter converted a pair of free throws as South Alabama cut the margin to 46-43
with 17:50 remaining.
The margin got as close as two at 50-48 before ULM used an 11-4, capped
by a Brown 3-pointer, to build its lead to 61-52 with 13:55 remaining.
The Jaguars responded with a quick 8-0 run to get within one and took
its first lead of the second half at 71-69 on a 3-pointer from Dallas Jones at
the 8:20 mark. The teams traded clutch 3-pointers the rest of the way, but a
dunk by Mychal Ammons and another 3 by Goldstein gave the Jaguars an 82-77
advantage with 4:49 to play.
ULM got a three-point play from Brown and free throw from Mingo to tie
the score at 86 with just over a minute to play.
The Warhawks have a pair of road games on the horizon as they travel to
North Texas (Feb. 16) at 7 p.m., and Denver (Feb. 18) at 5 p.m.
