MONROE, La. – Senior
Jayon James registered a season-high 19 points as the ULM men's basketball program pulled away from South Alabama in the second half for a 71-54 victory on Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
James went 8-for-12 from the field for ULM (9-14, 6-9 SBC) to post a game-high in scoring as the Warhawks out-scored the Jaguars 36-21 in the second half. Junior
Tylor Ongwae nearly totaled a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Freshman
Nick Coppola poured in 11 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Junior
Chinedu Amajoyi scored a career-high 12 points and pulled down a eight rebounds. Junior
Marvin Williams pitched in with 10 points and five rebounds.
USA (9-19, 3-12 SBC) was led by Augustine Rubit's 14 points and six rebounds. Rubit was named Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year.
The Warhawks started down 5-0 in the first half when they went on a 7-0 run to take the lead 7-5 at the 16:58 mark. Still leading 21-18, ULM used another 7-0 run, including a three-pointer by senior
R.J. McCray, to extend its lead to 28-18 with 7:15 remaining.
The Jaguars answered with a 9-0 spurt to make it a 28-27 game with 5:13 to go. USA took the lead 31-30, but it was short-lived as Amajoyi hit a three-pointer on ULM's next possession. The Warhawks carried a 35-33 lead into halftime.
Back-to-back baskets from James and Coppola pushed ULM's lead up to 39-33 to begin the second half. The Warhawks built their lead to 45-36 after a tip-in by Ongwae at the 16:23 mark.
ULM led 58-49 when it pulled away from the Jaguars in the last six minutes. It used an 11-1 run to go up 69-50 after a three-pointer by Amajoyi. The Warhawks scored their final basket of the game on a lay-up from Coppola.
ULM will look to win its third consecutive home game on Saturday when it takes on Troy on Senior Day at 4:00 p.m.
Support the Warhawks through participating in the Athletic Foundation, you can 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 for visit the
athletic ticket homepage.NOTES- The Warhawks swept the season series over USA for the second time in school history and the first time since 1975-76
- ULM has won back-to-back conference home games by double-figures for the first time since 2001-02 when it defeated Nicholls State 90-73 and Northwestern State 96-83. The Warhawks defeated UALR 65-49 in their last home game
- The Warhawks have held conference opponents to under 55 points in consecutive home games for the first time since 1983-84 when they beat Northwestern State 80-53 and Arkansas State 58-54 on Feb. 13-14
- ULM improved to 5-0 this season when leading at halftime and 8-0 when having at least four double-figure scorers
- The Warhawks improved to 6-5 in home this season and 390-168 all-time in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Keith Richard is now 6-5 all-time against USA in his head coaching career
- Senior
Jayon James registered a season-high 19 points, beating out his 18-point performance at Texas State on Feb. 6. It was his 13th double-figure scoring game of the season and 26th of his career. His eight made field goals tied a season-high
- With 10 points, junior
Tylor Ongwae notched his 15th consecutive double-figure scoring game, reaching that mark in every SBC contest. Ongwae has scored double-digits in 21 of 23 games on the season
- Freshman
Nick Coppola tallied his seventh double-figure scoring game of the season and his eighth 40-minute game. He led the team in assists for the 10th time this year
- Junior
Chinedu Amajoyi netted his third double-digit performance of the season with his career-high. His eight rebounds and four made field goals also set career-bests. Amajoyi entered the game leading the conference in three-point percentage and went two-for-five in the contest
- Junior
Marvin Williams put in his sixth double-figure scoring game of the season and his fifth 10-plus point, five-plus rebound game
- The Warhawks out-rebounded the Jaguars 35-27 and held a 40-24 advantage in the paint. ULM shot 27-for-53 (.509) from the field
- With three regular season games still remaining, ULM has doubled both its overall and conference win totals from last season. The Warhawks have three more conference wins despite playing an 18-game schedule, compared to a 20-game slate last season. ULM was 4-23 overall and 3-17 in SBC play last year
