MONROE, La. – In front of its biggest crowd of the season of 3,502 fans, the ULM men's basketball program used a big second half to post its 400th win in Fant-Ewing Coliseum history on Thursday in a 67-55 victory over rival UL-Lafayette.
ULM (17-8, 11-3 SBC) trailed UL-Lafayette (13-12, 7-7 SBC) 48-43 with 10:52 remaining in the game when sophomore Nick Coppola and junior Majok Deng hit three-pointers as part of an 8-0 run to go up 51-48. Still leading 56-53, the Warhawks went on a late 11-0 spurt to put the game out of reach.
It marked the fifth win in a row for ULM.
Reigning Sun Belt Conference, College Sports Madness and Louisiana Player of the Week Tylor Ongwae netted a game-high 21 points on eight made field goals. The senior also grabbed seven rebounds.
Deng finished the game with 16 points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks, while junior Justin Roberson also had a big outing with 14 points, six rebounds and three steals. Coppola grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to go along with his five assists and no turnovers in 40 minutes. Ongwae also played 40 minutes.
It marked the second time this season ULM held UL-L to 55 points. Shawn Long led the Cajuns with team-highs of 13 points and 13 rebounds
The game was tied 12-12 early when ULM went on a 6-0 run, forcing the Cajuns to call timeout after Coppola found Deng underneath to go up 18-12 at the 13:46 mark. After UL-L cut the deficit to 22-21, junior Mack Foster converted an old-fashion three-point play to go up 25-21 with 7:41 left.
The Cajuns came back with five straight points to take the lead, 26-25, after a three-pointer by Xavian Rimmer. UL-L made the final basket of the half on a Kasey Shepherd three-pointer to lead 33-30 at the break.
UL-L took its biggest lead of the game, 45-38, as ULM called timeout with 12:40 remaining in the second half. Ongwae scored the next five points, including a three-pointer, to cut it to 45-43 with 11:27 to go.
After the Cajuns pushed their lead back up to 48-43, ULM answered with its 8-0 run to go up 51-48 with 7:34 remaining. UL-L's Brian Williams hit a three-pointer to tie it, but the Warhawks came back with another three-pointer by Coppola and a lay-up by Deng to go back up 56-51 at the 4:55 mark.
Still leading 56-53 with 3:05 left, ULM put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run as it made nine of its last 10 free throws in the game.
The Warhawks will close out the weekend at home with a 2:00 p.m. contest against Appalachian State at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. It's the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
NOTES
- ULM swept the season series over the Ragin' Cajuns for the first time since 1971-72. It won the first meeting this year, 57-55 on Jan. 19. ULM also defeated UL-L at home for the second straight year
- The Warhawks have now posted two win streaks of five-games or more in the same season for the first time since 1999-2000. They won six games in a row earlier this season in conference play
- ULM improved to 10-2 at home on the season and 400-171 all-time in Fant-Ewing Coliseum
- The Warhawks entered the game ranking first in the SBC and top-10 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage defense (.285) and held UL-L to a .273 (6-22 clip) including .125 (1-8) in the second half
- ULM also entered the game leading the league in blocks (4.5 bpg) and rejected six in the contest
- Ongwae tallied his 41st double-figure scoring game of his career and 17th of the season. It was also his 14th career 20-plus scoring game and fifth this year. Ongwae entered the game leading the SBC in free throw percentage (.875) and went 2-2 in the contest. He played 40 minutes for the third time this year and sixth time in his career
- Deng entered the game ranking second in the league in SBC games in three-point field goal percentage (.417) and went 2-4 in the game. He was also second in blocks (1.6) and swatted away a pair. It was Deng's 15th double-figure scoring game of the year
- Roberson etched his ninth double-figure scoring game this season. He played all 20 minutes in the second half
- Coppola entered the game ranking third in the league in both assist:turnover ratio (2.2) and assists (3.9 apg). He dished out five assists with no turnovers to improve upon his marks. It was his 18th career 40 minute (or more) game and ninth this year. Coppola finished the game with eight points which included a pair of three-pointers
- The Warhawks improved to 15-0 on the season when they have at least three double-figure scorers
- 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 and New Hampshire
- The Warhawks improved to 3-0 in February
- ULM has already surpassed its conference win total from last season by four games and has also surpassed its overall win total by seven games when they finished 10-17 (7-11 SBC)
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“We're at 11 conference wins which is the most we've had since 2007. The 17 wins overall guarantees us a winning season which also hasn't happened since 2007. It's two small things along the way, but when you've been fighting an uphill battle like we've had for many years, those things mean something.”
On ULM's defense
“We were struggling to guard them in the beginning of the second half. We were in a zone and they were scoring still. We then switched to man-to-man and went to our four-guard lineup with Tylor at the four. We got steals and some turnovers and we got a few transition buckets out of that. It also really got us moving the ball offensively in our five-man motion and we hit some big threes. Roberson drove the ball well. We banked in a three-point shot; a little luck goes a long way too. Still, it was certainly a good second half performance by our team against a very good team. I don't care what their record is, we played against a very good team – a team that can win our tournament. They are very, very scary to me and Bob [Marlin] does a great job as always. I'm very proud of this win.”
On ULM's guards
“Once you go to the four-guard lineup you lose some height. But we weren't rebounding the ball anyways. They had 13 offensive rebounds and it was tough in there at times because they were bigger than us in terms of height. That forced our guards to have to come off the perimeter and rebound. For Nick to get eight defensive rebounds is unbelievable for his size and it tells you about his heart.”
On Tylor Ongwae
“Make no mistake about it, his re-emergence onto the scene with our team in a big way has meant a lot in our last three wins.”
Quoting Nick Coppola
Opening Statement
“It was another grind-it-out performance. We've been doing it all year. We were down three at half and we said in the locker room that we've been here before. We knew what to do and we came out and did it.”
On ULM's different lineups without Marvin Williams
“Not having Marvin has changed the dynamic of our team. We've been going with a four-guard lineup which creates match-up problems for the other team and we took advantage of those.”
On UL-L taking a seven-point lead in the second half
“We just had to settle down. We've had droughts all year. We responded, and just like every other game, we had to come out and get some stops and some big baskets when we needed them.”
On the crowd at Fant-Ewing Coliseum
“It was awesome. Just from last year to this year has been night and day. The crowd really got into it on some big plays.”
Quoting Justin Roberson
On ULM's guards pulling down rebounds
“Coach tells us every day that we have to rebound so we just tried to go hard tonight on the boards.”
On his offensive game
“I tried to find the open lanes and Coach told me to stay aggressive. I just tried to go at them hard.”
On whether the team looks at the standings
“We look at it but we want to stay focused on the game in front of us. We just keep our heads up and play ball one game at a time.”
