MONROE, La. – The ULM men's basketball program took a 14-point lead into the intermission and then held off South Alabama in the second half for a 67-61 victory on Saturday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
Junior Majok Deng registered a career-high 17 points for ULM (14-8, 8-3 SBC) and also grabbed eight rebounds. Sophomore Nick Coppola matched his season-high with 15 points and senior Tylor Ongwae tallied a double-double with 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
For the Jaguars (7-15, 5-6 SBC), Ken Williams recorded a game-high 23 points while Dionte Ferguson aided the attack with 18 points.
ULM started ahead, 11-7, when a three-pointer from Coppola started a 9-0 spurt to push the lead up to, 20-7 with 12:13 remaining. Still leading, 22-11, Deng and senior Marvin Williams each hit a jumper to put ULM up 26-11 with 8:50 left.
Junior Jamaal Samuel knocked down jumpers on back-to-back possessions to keep the Warhawks ahead, 30-15 at the 4:35 mark. ULM carried a 32-18 lead into the break.
ULM scored the first four points of the second half after a pair of free throws from Deng and jumper by Ongwae to take its biggest lead of the game, 36-18.
USA responded with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 36-28 with 14:29 to go. A jumper and three-pointer from Ken Williams brought the Jags within four at 40-36 with 9:41 left. USA kept inching closer and made it a three-point game, 45-42, after a long-range shot by John Brown with 8:29 remaining.
The Warhawks led 48-44 when they used a 8-2 run to get slight separation, 56-46, with 5:51 left. The Jags didn't go away and cut it back down to 63-59 after a four-point play by Taishaun Johnson with 1:20 remaining.
ULM's defense clamped down in the end and did not allow another field goal the rest of the way. It closed it out with four free throws from Ongwae. The Eldoret, Kenya native finished 10-11 from the charity stripe.
The Warhawks will hit the road for a pair of games next weekend beginning at UALR at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Follow the ULM men's basketball program on twitter, @ULM_MBB, for all of the latest news and live in-game updates.
NOTES
- The Warhawks defeated South Alabama for the third consecutive game. ULM swept the season-series last year. It was the 17th meeting between the two schools dating back to 1975
- As a team, the Warhawks shot a season-best .938 (15-16) from the free throw line, topping their previous best of .909 (10-11) at Texas State
- ULM committed less-than 10 turnovers for the second game in a row as it had just nine
- The Warhawks improved to 9-2 at home this season and 399-171 all-time in Fant-Ewing Coliseum
- ULM improved to 11-0 on the season when it has at least three double-figure scorers
- Deng's career-high came on a career-best seven made field goals. It was his 13th double-figure scoring game on the season and second in a row. Deng also entered the game ranking second in the league in blocks (1.7 bpg) and swatted a pair
- Ongwae became the first Warhawk this season to make 10 free throws in a game. He broke his previous rebounding career-high of 11 set twice last season. Ongwae etched his 38th career double-figure scoring game, 14th double-digit scoring game of the season, seventh career double-figure rebounding game and fourth double-digit rebounding game of the season. Ongwae entered the game ranking second in the SBC in free throw percentage (.863) and hit a .909 clip in the game
- Coppola scored 15 points for the third time this season. He was one-point shy of his career-high. Coppola made six field goals for the fifth time in his career. He also matched a career-high with three steals. Coppola reached double-figures in scoring for the 19th time in his career and 10th time this season
- The Warhawks outrebounded the Jags, 36-29
- USA made the first basket of the game but never led again
- ULM remained as the only team in the SBC that has not allowed 75 points in a single game this season. It is also one of nine teams left in the nation to accomplish that. The list also includes Cincinnati, New Mexico, George Washington, Oregon State, Saint Peters, Utah, Baylor, New Hampshire
- The Warhawks have now surpassed their conference win total from last season and their overall win total by four games. ULM finished 10-17 (7-11 SBC) in 2013-14
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“I'm pleased with the win. We played excellent in the first half. It was one of our better halves, offensively and defensively, in conference play. It was excellent and it gave us a 14-point lead and we needed every bit of it. We did not play as well in the second half. Some of it was due to us but some of it due to them also. Ken Williams is a really good player for South Alabama. Majok hit a big, big three for us late and Tylor's free throws down the stretch were big.”
On sophomore Nick Coppola
“Nick Coppola played great today. He played 37 minutes and was a floor leader. He made nice drives under pressure when we really needed them. He played a really good basketball game. His poise was the area that he had to get better at from freshman to sophomore year. Last year he would have just been heaving up threes. Those plays he made tonight are what a poised point guard does. He knew how much was left on the shot clock, drove it at the right time at made some big plays.”
On the second half
“We had some bad turnovers in the second half and that hurt. We had some early in the half which meant we didn't get off to a good start. We could have ended this game in the first five minutes of the second half. We also had some turnovers late. Those sort of things could have cost us but I'm glad they didn't.”
Quoting sophomore Nick Coppola
On the second half
“We got up by 14 at halftime and we really wanted to extend it coming out but had some defensive break-downs. It was like a lot of other games we've played this year, it was a grind game and we pulled it out.”
On whether ULM was trying to play up-tempo offensively
“Yeah definitely. Coming into the game, our coaches emphasized that there would be opportunities to run. We wanted to really get out in transition and that was one of the reasons as to why we won the game."
On whether getting back late from Troy was a factor in the team's performance
“I don't think that had a big impact because we've been playing Thursday night and then Saturday day games all year. We just have to be prepared for each game. Anyone in this league can win on any given night."
Quoting junior Majok Deng
On his career-high
“I was able to make some open shots at the start of the game and that got me going a little bit. My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball down low and in the short corner.”
On his ability to play from the outside
“The coaches have been working a lot with me on my three-point shot so I can spread the floor. If I can spread the floor it is better for our center to do work down-low because they will be hesitant to double-team him. So it helps a lot when I can hit outside shots."
On the second half
“We weren't as focused as we were in the first half. We let up a big run and had a stretch where we couldn't score. We had to regroup in order to come back and win the game.”
