CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Despite a double-double from junior Majok Deng, the ULM men's basketball program dropped a 61-48 decision to Coastal Carolina on Wednesday on a neutral court at McKenzie Arena in the Battle 4 Atlantis Mainland Bracket.
Deng, from Adelaide, Australia, netted 14 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. He also swatted three blocks. Junior Justin Roberson also recorded double-figures for ULM (2-2) with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Coastal Carolina (4-1), which reached the NCAA Tournament last year and was picked to win the Big South again this season in the Preseason Poll, was led by Josh Cameron's 17 points. Shivaughn Wiggins registered 11 points and Warren Gillis had 10.
The Warhawks started down, 8-2 early when a three-pointer from sophomore Nick Coppola and a pair of free throws from Roberson made it an 8-7 game. Though, CCU hit 11 of its first 21 shots and four of its first eight three-pointers to build a 28-19 lead with 5:34 left in the first half. The Chanticleers carried a 33-23 advantage into the break.
CCU pushed its lead up to 41-25 early in the second half and still led, 49-33 when the Warhawks used a 5-0 run after a three-pointer from Deng and a jumper by sophomore Prince Cooper to cut it to 49-38 with 8:26 left. A four-point play from CCU's Cameron upped the advantage back up to 56-40.
The Warhawks will wrap-up the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament on Thursday when they take on Robert Morris at 11:00 a.m. (CT) at McKenzie Arena. The game will be live streamed online for free on the SoCon Digital Network. Live radio coverage can be heard on KLIP 105.3 FM (Nick White, play-by-play).
NOTES
- It marked the second double-figure scoring game of the season for both Deng and Roberson. Deng became the first Warhawk to grab 10 rebounds in a game this year
- ULM out-rebounded Coastal Carolina, 35-33 and out-blocked the Chanticleers, 7-3
- Coppola, who entered the game leading the Sun Belt Conference in assist:turnover ratio, improved his total by dishing out seven assists with zero turnovers
- Junior Jamaal Samuel matched his career-high with four blocks. He previously set the mark as a member of Illinois State against Evansville on Feb. 12, 2014
- ULM is playing in its first regular season tournament since Nov. 26-28, 2010 when it played in the Global Sports Roundball Classic in Normal, Ill.
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“We struggled in the half-court offense and that was the story of the game. We're working on it and we're still trying to figure some things out. Our only true low-post player, Marvin Williams, didn't really get to play today because of foul trouble. So that turned us into a shooting team and we obviously weren't great today. Are we a great driving team? We only shot seven free throws. So we're still trying to figure out how we can score more in the half-court offense. It wasn't just today either. Aside from the Champion Baptist game, it's been every game so far. For the most part, we defended pretty decently today against some very good guards. Josh Cameron and Warren Gillis can really play. Shivaughn Wiggins is also a good player. CCU is small but they can really play. Overall, we didn't do too bad, it's just the scoring that we've got to continue working on.”
On the lineup
“Majok did fine, but he too got lost in the offense at times. Obviously Tylor Ongwae and Nick Coppola had tough shooting nights which made it hard for us. Justin Roberson showed he can help us in the half-court offense, which was encouraging, and Mack Foster as well.”
On his message to the team after the game
“I told the team in the locker room that we are still a work in progress. We took Florida to overtime which told fans that we've arrived, but as we saw today, we haven't yet. We're still a program that is rebuilding and taking positive steps. We're doing a lot of good things, but we still have some short-comings that we'll have to work through this year to get better."
On tomorrow's game against Robert Morris
“This situation is no different than playing in Sun Belt play. Throughout the season, there's going to be a few games where we say 'we really need this one.' Tomorrow is one of those games. Robert Morris is saying the same thing to itself. It will be two teams with very little fans in the stands, but playing for personal pride and a split. I expect it to be very hard-fought and we're going to treat it like it's a very important game.”
