MONROE, La. – Trailing by 10 at halftime, the ULM men's basketball program inched closer and closer throughout the second half, but UT Arlington was able to hang on for a 61-57 decision on Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
It marked the first home loss of the season and the end of a six-game winning streak for ULM (12-7, 6-2 SBC) which was led by senior Marvin Williams' game-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Williams went six-for-six from the field and five-for-six from the charity stripe.
Junior Majok Deng also reached double-figures for the Warhawks with 10 points including a pair of three-pointers.
UTA (11-7, 5-3 SBC) saw Drew Charles score 12 points, while Lonnie McClanahan put in 11.
The game started at a quick pace with the teams exchanging baskets through the first 10 minutes. ULM led 16-13 when the Mavs went on a 9-0 run to take a 22-16 lead at the 5:34 mark. After the Warhawks cut it to 24-20, UTA went on a 10-0 spurt to take its biggest lead of the game, 34-20.
ULM ended the half with two points from juniors DeMondre Harvey and Justin Roberson to make it a 34-24 game.
The Warhawks slowly cut into the deficit into the second half. Williams got going to make it a 40-34 game at the 16:03 mark and senior Tylor Ongwae hit a three-pointer to cut it to 48-44 with 9:41 left.
After the Mavs extended their lead back up to 56-46, ULM made a late push which included a three-pointer from Deng to make it 56-52 with 1:42 remaining. UTA's Kevin Hervey and sophomore Nick Coppola exchanged three-pointers to keep it at 59-55 with 54 seconds left.
Using a full court press, ULM forced a turnover and found Ongwae for a driving lay-up to make it 59-57 with 38 seconds remaining. The Mavs were able to hit a pair of free throws and get a stop to hold on.
ULM closes out the weekend on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Georgia Southern. Legendary former head coach Mike Vining will be honored with a “402” banner at halftime to represent the number of regular and post-season victories over his 24 seasons at the helm.
NOTES
- ULM's six-game winning streak was the most consecutive SBC victories in school history. It was also the most wins in-a-row since 1998-99 when it was a member of the Southland Conference
- The Warhawks moved to 47-16 all-time against the Mavs and 28-5 at home. The Warhawks are now 398-170 all-time in Fant-Ewing Coliseum and 8-1 this season
- ULM entered the game leading the league and ranking ninth in the nation in three-point percentage defense (.274) and held the Mavs to a .269 clip (7-26)
- The Warhawks rejected five blocks in the contest to match their league-leading average. Deng and junior Jamaal Samuel each had a pair
- ULM outrebounded UTA, 33-30
- Williams entered the game ranking first in the SBC in field goal percentage (.661) and went a perfect 6-6 from the floor. He posted his 17th career double-figure scoring game and seventh this year
- Deng registered his 11th double-digit scoring game of the season
- ULM remained as the only team in the SBC that has not allowed 75 points in a single game this season
- It marked the fourth game in seven days for ULM which will also play five games in nine days on Saturday
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“I want to compliment UT Arlington, they played a little bit better than we did. We've got to take the bad with the good. We've won some close games like this, but tonight we were always just a step behind. It just felt that way from the beginning. They were a little quicker than us, quicker to the ball and quicker down the floor. It was an uphill battle for us all night long, but give credit to UTA.”
On Marvin Williams and the offense
“Marvin played well. He was the bright spot of the game offensively. UTA went to a switching man-to-man defense about mid-way through the first half and really stayed in it for most of the game. We talked at halftime about throwing the ball inside against that defense and driving it, and we did, but we didn't make some plays at the rim. We missed some short shots and driving shots that we really needed to make against that defense. We just have to get better at it especially if we see it again. It was like pulling teeth out there sometimes to score. UTA then hit some big shots in big moments and won. We played hard, but we just didn't quite play well enough to win.”
Closing Statement
“The 15 turnovers was really uncharacteristic of us and it was due to their defense. We tried to talk to the players about how to beat it at timeouts, but it didn't settle in. We did a little better in the second half but not well enough to get back into the game until the very end.”
