ULM Warhawks

NATCHITOCHES, La. – Trailing 52-34 in the second half, the ULM men's basketball program clawed all the way back to win 84-80 in an overtime thriller over Northwestern State on Thursday at Prather Coliseum.

Senior Amos Olatayo matched his career-high with 30 points with 27 coming after halftime. He had six of ULM's (2-1, 0-0 SBC) 10 points in overtime including the go-ahead lay-in to make it 80-78 with 32 seconds remaining. Olatayo also grabbed nine rebounds to go along with his 11-for-13 shooting (two-for-two from long-range).

With 11 seconds left in overtime, ULM got a stop defensively as junior Tylor Ongwae came down with the rebound and was fouled. Ongwae hit both free throws to ice the game. He finished with 11 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Junior Marvin Williams registered his first career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jayon James posted 17 points and seven rebounds, including a 9-for-11 mark at the free throw line.

The Demons (2-2, 0-0 SLC), who were picked to win the Southland Conference in Preseason Polls, registered a 111-92 victory over Auburn earlier this season. NSU reached the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 14 seed after winning the SLC Championships.

Williams got ULM the early lead after making the first couple shots of the game and the Warhawks used it to get ahead, 8-2. After the Demons came back to tie it, 13-13, they went on a 13-5 run to jump in front, 26-19 with 7:30 left in the half. At an up-tempo pace, the teams exchanged baskets until the intermission with ULM trailing 35-29.

Williams and James led the team at the half with 10 and eight points, respectively. ULM also held a 22-16 rebounding edge as sophomore DeMondre Harvey grabbed four off the bench.

NSU continued to run the floor in the second half and led 52-34 with 15:02 remaining. The Warhawks started to chip away at the lead and cut it to 58-47 after a lay-up by James with 9:52 left. James received a pass from freshman Nick Coppola who recorded a game-high eight assists.

The Warhawks cut the deficit to single-digits, 63-54 with 7:46 left. Still trailing 65-59, Ongwae hit a big three-pointer to make it a 65-62 game with 5:48 left. ULM took its first lead in the half at the 4:07 mark after a pair of made free throws by James, 66-65.

After another made free throw by Ongwae, Olatayo hit a three to extend ULM's lead out to 72-67 with 2:08 remaining. The Demons were able to force a couple turnovers, but the Warhawks still led 74-72 with 13 seconds remaining.

With five seconds left in regulation, NSU's Zikiteran Woodley tied the game with a lay-up, 74-74. Coppola's last-second shot from near half-court hit the back of the rim to end the second half.

The Demons scored the first bucket in overtime, but ULM answered with the next two after baskets by Ongwae and Olatayo made it 78-76. Tied at 78, Olatayo spurted free and gave the Warhawks the lead for good with 32 seconds left on a lay-up.

Jalen West led NSU with 18 points while Zikiteran had 16.

The Warhawks will return home on Monday, Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m. when they take on Thomas (Ga.). Follow the ULM men's basketball program on twitter, @ULM_MBB, for all of the latest news and live in-game updates.

NOTES
- Senior Amos Olatayo has scored in double-figures in 11 consecutive games dating back to last season. It was his 11th career 20+ scoring game and his second in a row. He last scored 30 points on Feb. 2, 2013 at FIU

- The Warhawks moved to 71-48 all-time against NSU, and 28-27 on the road. ULM has played NSU more times than any other school in program history as the two were both members of the Gulf States Conference from 1954-1971, the Atlantic Sun Conference from 1978-1982 and ULM was a member of the Southland Conference from 1982 until 2006

- ULM is now 353-233 all-time against teams currently in the Southland Conference

- ULM's 2-1 record is its best after three games since 2006-07 when the Warhawks went on to win the SBC West Division. ULM will look to reach the 3-1 mark against Thomas for the first time since 2004-05 when it started 4-1

- Four ULM student-athletes scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game. 10 Warhawks scored at least a point in the contest

- The Warhawks shot 80 percent, four-for-five, from the field in overtime while the Demons were held to a 14.3 percent shooting mark

- ULM held a 46-44 rebounding edge in the game

Quoting Head Coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“This was a great win and a great game. There was a wide range of emotion for both teams. It was just up and down the whole night. This is a really good win for us. I really respect Northwestern State and coach Mike McConathy.”

“I told the players before the game that we were playing against a Sun Belt-caliber team, and an upper-level one. We knew coming in that this game would tell us a lot about where we are at in our development. We rebounded well and at the right times. We slowly crept back into the game and this was a really big win for us.”

On ULM's 29 turnovers
“I don't know if I scared the team before the game, but it really says a lot to be able to overcome that and win. It's a credit to our half-court defense, which was great when we didn't turn it over. Northwestern scored a lot of lay-ups when it was able to run. At half, I gave a rant speech about the turnovers, but after I got over that I told them if we turn it over less than 10 times in the second half then we will win the game. We turned it over 12 times after that including overtime so I was close. We knew Northwestern would show a lot of pressure and we didn't handle it well. It wasn't picture-perfect, but it was still a gutty, come-from-behind win on the road against a quality opponent.”

On the end of the second half
“We had a chance to ice the game but missed six-of-seven free throws. We made a couple mistakes down the stretch, including a big defensive one on the last possession. It's all a learning experience and I'd rather learn out of a win than a loss. I'm really happy with our team and where we are at after our first three games.”

On Amos Olatayo
“He was attacking the rim all night long. He was really finding his way underneath the defense in the second half. He hit a pair of big threes for us. He only shot two but they were big makes. I know he wishes that he would have made his free throws at the end of regulation but he really played a great second half.”

On free throws and rebounding
“I'm going to knock on wood because for Jayon to go 9-for-11 and Amos 6-for-10 after what they did last year at the line is a tremendous improvement. Jayon and Marvin both rebounded the ball well, and Amos got up there and grabbed some big ones as well. Those guys showed their maturity and experience tonight.”