LAS VEGAS – Canisius made four three-pointers in the final 40 seconds to push the game to overtime and ultimately prevailed, 108-96 in triple overtime over the ULM men's basketball program on Tuesday at Orleans Arena in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic.
ULM (5-6, 1-0 SBC) led 77-64 with 1:10 left in the game when the Golden Griffins (5-6, 1-1 MAAC) caught fire. The Warhawks missed six of their last seven free throws in regulation.
In the first overtime, ULM was clinging to an 88-86 lead when Malcolm McMillan from Canisius was fouled shooting a three-pointer with six seconds left. He made all three free throws to put the Griffs up, 89-88. Junior Nick Coppola was fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining and made one of two free throws to send the game to double overtime.
Canisius led 96-93 in the second overtime period when senior Majok Deng, the reigning Louisiana Player of the Week winner, drilled a three-pointer with 37 seconds left to knot it up, 96-96. With one second remaining, Kassius Robertson of Canisius was fouled, but missed both free throws to push the game into triple overtime.
The Griffs outscored the Warhawks 12-0 in triple overtime after ULM had four student-athletes foul out compared to just one for Canisius.
For the second game in a row, ULM saw three players record double-doubles. Deng totaled 21 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Travis Munnings finished with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, and senior DeMondre Harvey ended with a career-high 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Also in double-figures, senior Justin Roberson etched 17 points and nine rebounds. Coppola posted 13 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Senior Jamaal Samuel tallied 12 points on 5-6 shooting.
Four different Warhawks played a career-high in minutes. Coppola played 54, Deng 52, Munnings 52 and Harvey 40. The 54 minutes for Coppola marked a school record for a single game.
Robertson led the Griffs with 28 points and hit five three-pointers. McMillan put in 21 points with 13 of them coming at the free throw line. Phil Valenti scored 16 points, and Jermaine Crumpton and Chris Atkinson each had 13.
A back-and-forth first-half ended with the Warhawks leading, 44-42 after a jumper by Samuel for the final score. The Warhawks used a 6-0 run in the second half to earn a 50-44 advantage, capped by a fast-break lay-in by Roberson to force a Canisius timeout with 17:25 remaining. A dunk by Roberson extended the lead to 54-46 with 14:36 left.
After the Griffs cut the deficit to 60-56 at the 9:36 mark, ULM responded with a 6-0 run to stay on top, 66-56 after a lay-up by Roberson with 6:58 remaining. The Warhawks went up 74-61 after a jumper by Coppola with 2:22 to go and stayed ahead by 13 with 1:10 left.
Canisius made 15 three-pointers in the contest.
ULM will close out non-conference play on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (CT) when it plays Hampton. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
NOTES
- It marked the third triple overtime game in school history and the first since Dec. 28, 1999 when ULM fell at Lamar, 94-92. Before that, ULM defeated Louisiana Tech, 107-106 on Dec. 5, 1970 on the road
- The 96 points scored for the Warhawks were the most in a loss since Jan. 31, 2007 when it fell at Western Kentucky, 103-96
- ULM outrebounded Canisius, 56-40 and held edges of 42-26 in the paint and 25-10 in second chance points
- The Warhawks shot 21-33 (.636) from the free throw line. The 33 free throw attempts marked a season-high. Canisius finished 35-48 (.729) from the charity stripe
- Coppola moved up to No. 8 all-time at ULM in career assists with 284. He surpassed both Brian Spencer (277 assists) and Keith Johnson (282 assists). Coppola needs 16 more to catch John Pickett who dished out 300 assists from 1976-80. Coppola notched his 34th career double-figure scoring game, sixth this season and second in a row. His seven rebounds marked a season-high and his four steals was a career-high
- Deng posted his second straight double-double. It was his 32nd career double-figure scoring game and seventh this season. He's reach double-digits four times in a row, and in 15 of his last 16 performances dating back to last season. Deng now has 11 career double-doubles and three this season
- Munnings also registered his second consecutive double-double and his fourth this year. His 14 rebounds surpassed his previous best of 12 against Central Baptist. Munnings has scored in double-figures in four straight games and eight times this year
- Harvey etched his fourth career double-double. His 19 points topped his previous best of 14 set against McMurry in the season-opener. Harvey was a perfect 7-7 from the field. It was his eighth career double-figure scoring game and fourth this year
- Samuel reached double-figures for the fifth time in his last six outings. It was his 15th double-digit scoring game of his career and seventh of the season
- It marked the first-ever meeting between ULM and Canisius
