MONROE, La. – A wire-to-wire victory marked the sixth win in a row for the ULM men's basketball program as it defeated Appalachian State, 69-58 on Saturday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
For the game, ULM (18-8, 12-3 SBC) shot .509 (27-53) from the field and dominated Appalachian State (9-14, 6-8 SBC) in the paint, 36-20. The ULM defense also held the Mountaineers to .345 (19-55) shooting. ULM's lead never dropped below nine points in the second half.
Reigning Sun Belt Conference, College Sports Madness and Louisiana Player of the Week Tylor Ongwae led ULM with 14 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and a pair of steals. The senior played 40 minutes along with sophomore Nick Coppola who tallied nine points and five assists.
Juniors Justin Roberson and Majok Deng registered 13 points apiece. All of Roberson's points came in the first half as he was six-for-seven shooting.
Junior DeMondre Harvey came in strong off the bench with seven points and eight rebounds. Junior Mack Foster also chipped in off the bench with eight points including a pair of three-pointers.
The Mountaineers were led by Jacob Lawson's 16 points. Tommy Spagnolo notched a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
ULM opened the game with a 9-0 lead after a pair of baskets by Roberson, a dunk by Deng and a three-pointer by Coppola. Roberson hit a jumper to push the advantage up to 25-10 with 9:03 remaining.
The Warhawks were still up 29-15 after a bucket in the paint by Harvey at the 8:12 mark. ULM took its biggest lead of the half, 38-21, after a made free throw by Harvey with 1:16 to go.
App State scored the final five points of the half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer by Chris Burgess, but the Warhawks took a 38-26 lead into the intermission.
The Mountaineers cut the deficit to 42-33 early in the second half, but a three-pointer by Foster near the end of the shot clock and a lay-in by junior Jamaal Samuel pushed ULM's lead back up to 47-33 with 13:39 remaining. The Warhawks further extended the advantage to 52-35 after five straight points by Ongwae including an old-fashion three-point play at the 12:44 mark.
The teams exchanged baskets for the next 10 minutes when the Mountaineers tried to make a late push. Jake Babic connected on a three-point play to make it 67-56 ULM with 2:08 remaining, but Coppola answered with a runner in the lane which was the final dagger.
The Warhawks will have Thursday off from competition but return to the court next Saturday when they travel to Arkansas State for a 7:05 p.m. tip at the Convocation Center.
NOTES
- The Warhawks have posted the most single-season SBC wins in school history with 12. The 18 wins overall is the most since 2006-07
- ULM has etched two win streaks of six games in the same season for the first time since 1992-93
- The Warhawks improved their home record to 11-2 on the season. They are now 401-171 all-time in the coliseum
- ULM entered the game ranking ninth in the nation in three-point percentage defense (.285) and were right on par, holding App State to .286 (4-14). The Warhawks were also 12th in the country in field goal percentage defense (.377) and limited the Mountaineers to .345 (19-55)
- In addition, the Warhawks lead the league in blocks per game (4.5 bpg) and rejected five in the contest
- Ongwae matched his scoring and rebounding averages with 14 and 7, respectively. It was his 42nd career double-figure scoring game, 18th of the season and fifth in a row. Ongwae played 40 minutes (or more) for the third consecutive game and seventh time in his career
- Deng notched his 16th double-digit scoring game of the season and second in a row. He was a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line
- Roberson notched his 10th double-figure scoring game of the year and second in a row
- Coppola entered the game ranking third in the league in assists (4.0 apg) and dished out five. He's now played 40 minutes (or more) 10 times this year and 19 times in his career. It was his fourth straight 40-minute (or more) game
- Harvey's seven points were the most in SBC play this season
- 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 six teams left in the nation to accomplish that. The list also includes New Mexico, Saint Peters, Utah, Baylor and New Hampshire
- The Warhawks improved to 16-0 on the season when they have at least three double-figure scorers
- ULM is now 9-0 when they shoot over 50 percent from the field
- The Warhawks improved to 4-0 in February
- ULM has now surpassed its conference win total from last season by five games and has also surpassed its overall win total by eight games when they finished 10-17 (7-11 SBC)
- It was the first-ever meeting between the Warhawks and the Mountaineers
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“I'm happy with the win because of the opponent we played. That is a very tough, hard-nosed team. They are very well coached and have no quit in them. You can see why Appalachian State has won the games that they have. With that said, had we not matched that, we would have lost today. So I want to give our team credit too for playing with some toughness. We had some guys come off the bench who provided great production in adverse circumstances. DeMondre Harvey did very well and so did Mack Foster. It was a team effort. It was a tough, hard-nosed, good, gritty win for the Warhawks.”
On holding Appalachian State's leading scorer, Frank Eaves, to four points
“That's why Mack Foster looked like he was about to pass out with about a minute left in the game. He was running around the whole second half trying to stop him. We had made it a point to not let Eaves go off on us. At halftime he had zero points and we emphasized it again there. Justin Roberson got hurt so Mack had to step in the whole second half and guard that kid for 20 minutes which is tough to do.”
On Justin Roberson
“He had 13 points in 14 minutes. He was about to have a big game. One of the reasons was because they didn't have anyone who could contain him off the dribble. We thought that coming into the game and as it unfolded in the first half he could really strike off the dribble. He also had his mid-range game going today which was nice to see. So it was unfortunate that he hurt his ankle but we have a week off to help him recuperate.”
On dominating in the paint
“These paint points have been great, and we've been good in that area for the last four or five games. Though it hasn't been the way we were getting them earlier in the season. Earlier, we were getting them by throwing them into the post. Now, because of the players that we have, we're not throwing it into the post at all. We are driving the ball; we are driving it and dumping it down to our bigs. We are also fast-breaking more. It is leading to better offensive performances - it's been pretty good as of late. If we can keep this up, we're going to be a tough out.”
On the team's energy
“We had a spirited pre-game talk. We came out very well and really defended in the first half. We should have been up more. We had a 17 point lead with about a minute to-go and then only were up 12 at half after giving them some life, which was a little bit discouraging. Still, we came out right and that was important after the victory Thursday. It's a sign of a team that is maturing. This was an easy game for us to not come out properly focused and get beat. If we would have not given it our best today we would have lost. But give our guys credit, we played hard. Appalachian State did, but we did too and it was a well-deserved win for us.”
