MONROE, La. -- Arkansas State
used a pair of big runs to cruise past ULM 87-54 on Saturday inside Fant-Ewing
Coliseum. The Red Wolves (17-9, 11-6 SBC) led by just nine points at the half, but went on a
19-1 run early in the second half and rolled to their seventh straight victory against
the Warhawks.
ASU shot 60 percent from the field, made a season-high 12 3-pointers
and outscored ULM 21-12 at the free-throw line. The Warhawks countered by shooting
45.2 percent for the game.
Junior Amos Olatayo reached
20 points for the eighth time this season with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-15
shooting. Freshman Kyle Koszuta
finished two points shy of his career-high with 13 points, including three
3-pointers. Junior Jayon James added
eight points and 10 assists - his second game with double-digit assists this season.
Arkansas State opened the game on fire from 3-point range, hitting 6 of
its first 7 from deep and rolling to a 24-3 advantage at the 12:20 mark of the
first half.
The Warhawks (4-18, 3-13 SBC) battled back with an inspired 24-6 run - fueled by the
play of the Olatayo - to get within three at 30-27 with 3:58 remaining before
halftime. With Arkansas State leading 30-17, Olatayo scored nine straight
points for the Warhawks to cut the lead 30-26 with 4:51 remaining in the first
half. Sophomore Trent Mackey added a
free throw to cap the run, but that is as close as the Warhawks would get.
The Red Wolves scored the final five points of the half, capped by a
3-pointer from Trey Finn in the
final seconds, to take a 42-33 advantage at the break.
The Warhawks got within eight on a 3-pointer from Mackey with 19:09
remaining before the Red Wolves exploded on a 19-1 run.
Finn led four ASU players in double figures with 19 points on 5-of-6
shooting from 3-point range. Kendrick
Washington chipped in 14 points, Cameron
Golden added 12 points and Brandon
Peterson recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
ULM travels to Western Kentucky on Thursday at 7 p.m. for the first of
two straight games away from home.
