MONROE, La. – Wearing its yellow throwback Northeast Louisiana jerseys, the ULM men's basketball program fell 83-61 to Louisiana Tech on Sunday in the 2013 CenturyLink Classic at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Junior Tylor Ongwae poured in a game-high 20 points to propel ULM (3-4) offensively. He drained a career-high nine field goals, grabbed five rebounds and swatted a pair of blocks.
Ongwae was one of three ULM student-athletes to score in double-figures as seniors Jayon James and Amos Olatayo tallied 14 and 11, respectively. James also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
LA Tech (10-3) was paced by Alex Hamilton who recorded 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. Cordarius Johnson and Jaron Johnson scored 12 points apiece.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 19-5 lead at the 12:30 mark in the first half and never looked back. They led by as many as 34-13 in the first half, but ULM cut it to a 44-28 deficit with 2:25 remaining after a three-pointer by Olatayo. LA Tech carried a 48-30 lead into the intermission.
LA Tech got off to another hot start in the second half and jumped ahead 66-38 with 12:04 left in the game. Senior R.J. McCray made it an 81-61 game on a layup with under one minute left, but the Warhawks could not get any closer.
ULM will be back in action on Friday, Dec. 27 when they travel to No. 3 Ohio State for a 6:00 p.m. tip. The Warhawks will return home on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014 when they host UL-Lafayette at 4:00 p.m. in the Sun Belt Conference opener.
Support the Warhawks through participation in the Athletic Foundation, join the ULMAF by calling 318-342-5415. Be sure to cheer on your Warhawks in person; to purchase tickets, please call 318-342-3ULM or visit the athletic ticket homepage.
NOTES
- ULM entered the game leading the Sun Belt Conference in steals (8.2 spg) and recorded nine on the evening. Olatayo and sophomores Kyle Koszuta and DeMondre Harvey each had two.
- The Warhawks also lead the league in rebounding margin and held a 36-34 advantage over the Bulldogs
- ULM moved to 25-20 all-time at home against LA Tech
- Senior Amos Olatayo notched his 14th double-figure scoring game in his last 15 games dating back to last season. It was his 23rd career double-digit game as he matched his career-high with three long-range baskets
- Junior Tylor Ongwae posted his sixth consecutive double-figure scoring game and his second 20-plus outing of the season
- Senior Jayon James registered his 17th career double-figure scoring game and his fourth on the season. He went four-for-five from the field and hit six-of-nine free throws
- Senior R.J. McCray made his first start of the season and scored seven points. He capitalized on three field goals including one from beyond-the-arc
- At least three Warhawks have scored in double-figures for ULM in six of seven games on the season
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
"First of all, I want to give credit to Louisiana Tech for playing an outstanding game from the opening tip. They really took it to us, but it was more than that, they played well. Their team quickness and skill level at the guard play was overwhelming at times and they have a shot blocker in the back. We had trouble scoring at the rim. We got it there numerous times. That has a lot to do with why they're good. I just think that more so than what we didn't do, it was more what Louisiana Tech did. We're not there yet, obviously. I have to give it to them. They've got a good team."
On the start
"I was disappointed when you look up there and see the score as bad as it was, but we were trying. It wasn't a lack of effort there in the first half, it was the team that we were playing against was playing at a high level. Whenever they put that kind of offensive effort together with that defense, they become a very good team. They had some nights where the offense wasn't as good and the defense has helped them stay afloat, but when they play offense as well as they did tonight, they are going to be tough to beat. We still have a ways to go before we get to that level."
On this being the final game of the series against LA Tech
"I'd like to see this series continue. I hope they feel this way. Both of us are going to sleep in our own beds tonight. No one has to travel, it's just a non-conference game. It's not going to make-or-break a season, we're not even in the same league. It's a good game to play. I hope we can continue."
On Tylor Ongwae
"I think he's going to be a good player, I really do. This was his seventh Division I game ever. He needs to learn how to play smarter. He needs to learn the ins and outs of playing a college basketball game. You can see that he has talent."
On turnovers
"We put another guard in the starting lineup to help us with ball handling. We started R.J. (McCray) and took Marvin (Williams) out of the starting lineup just to get off to a good start with ball handling, and we still struggled to score. I can't remember if we had any turnovers early, but I know we were struggling to score enough to keep up with them. We had some bad turnovers, there is no question about that, but our inability to defend and to stay in front of those guards was a huge issue. On the other side of it was our inability to make plays. Their big kid blocked shots, he forced us to change shots and I give them a lot of credit."
On the team's effort
"I'm not inspired by anything after just getting beaten by more than 20, that's not inspiring. I wanted to make it clear that it wasn't a lack of effort that we were down 18 at half. I told our kids that we played a better team tonight and they played very, very well. That's going to happen sometimes, but we have to move on from this and continue to try to get better."
On time off leading to Ohio State
"Ohio State is ranked third in the country and it's going to be a challenge, but I said when we went into this stretch of at LSU, at Ole Miss, Tech at home and at Ohio State that we'd go into it with enthusiasm and we'd come out of it with enthusiasm. That's what we're going to do. We're going to practice hard this week, we'll have a good scout and we're going to go out there and give it our best."
On Tech being a high caliber team
"They're good. You have to give them credit. It's not always something we do wrong or I do wrong or the players. You know I'm the first to correct a player if he needs correcting out there. They played at a high level tonight. I don't want to speak for Coach White, but they played very, very well and they are already a good team. Unfortunately, we caught them on a night like this and it's not pretty. I think it's more them than it was us."
On the crowd and the loss
"I'm not going to base our entire season on this one game and winning or losing and the crowd coming back or not. We're just starting to rebuild our program on the floor. There's going to be bumps and bruises along the way, but we're improved. Maybe the score didn't show it tonight, but we are improved. We have a tough schedule, ridiculously tough. We have a whole conference season to go. This game tonight - a month from now - we won't even remember it. As long as we improve, we can keep moving forward. I think what this did show tonight is that our community can show up and they will if the game means something and if this team shows improvement in January. They've done this for 30 years. If you can have some success, they'll come, and in good numbers, but we have to get there. I wish we would have won, I wish we would have played better, but this is part of the process that we have."
