MONROE, La. – Junior DeMondre Harvey notched career-highs of 13 points and 15 rebounds, but the ULM men's basketball program fell, 58-50 to Georgia State on Thursday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
ULM (19-11, 13-6 SBC) led 41-33 in the second half when GSU (21-9, 14-5 SBC) used a 13-0 run, including 10 straight points from Ryan Harrow to jump ahead. The Panthers were able to hold of the Warhawks in the end as Harrow scored 31 points which included seven three-pointers.
Harvey was a perfect 6-6 from the field. Eight of his 15 boards came on the offensive end. Harvey played 33 minutes, another career-high.
Junior Justin Roberson recorded 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Nick Coppola also reached double-figures with 11 points.
The Panthers came out of the gates on fire and took an early 13-0 lead. ULM responded with a big 14-0 run which included a pair of baskets by both Harvey and Roberson to put ULM ahead, 14-13 with 10:44 left.
The teams exchanged baskets for the next 10 minutes when the Warhawks held for one, leading by one on final last possession. Coppola found junior Majok Deng underneath in the closing seconds to give ULM a 29-26 advantage at the intermission.
The Warhawks extended the lead to 39-30 early in the second half after a jumper by Roberson at the 15:01 mark.
After the Panthers went up 55-47, senior Tylor Ongwae closed out ULM's scoring with a trio of free throws.
Coppola, Ongwae and Deng all played 40 minutes.
ULM will conclude the regular season at home on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against Texas State. Ongwae, Chinedu Amajoyi, Marvin Williams and Evan Sims will be honored on Senior Day with a special presentation before the game.
NOTES
- ULM is locked in as the No. 3 seed at the SBC Championships and will play its first postseason game on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m.
- The Warhawks moved to 5-4 all-time against Georgia State and 3-2 at home
- ULM is now 11-3 at home this season and 401-172 all-time in Fant-Ewing Coliseum
- The Warhawks held an opponent to under 60 points for the 14th time this season and the 10th time in league play
- ULM remained as one of five teams left in the nation to not allow 75 points in a single game this season. The list also includes Saint Peters, Utah, Baylor and New Hampshire
- The Warhawks moved to 16-1 on the season when they have at least three double-figure scorers
- ULM outrebounded GSU, 44-31 in the contest. The Warhawks also held a 30-18 advantage in points in the paint, 14-3 in second chance points and 13-2 in points off the bench
- Harvey notched his second double-double of the season as he had 12 points and 10 rebounds against Northwestern State on Dec. 9, 2014. He became the second Warhawk to pull down 15 rebounds in a game this year. It was his third career double-figure scoring game of his career and second of the season. It was also Harvey's second double-digit rebounding performance of the season
- Coppola entered the game leading the SBC in assist:turnover ratio (2.2) and dished out a pair of assists with no turnovers. It was his 23rd career double-figure scoring game and 14th this season. Coppola played 40 minutes for the 22nd time in his career and 13th time this year
- Roberson has now reached double-figures in scoring in five of the last six games. It was his 13th double-figure scoring game of the season
- Deng's 40 minutes matched a career-high. He swatted away a block in a game for the 24th time this year
- The Warhawks have already surpassed their conference win total from last season by six games and have also surpassed their overall win total by nine games when they finished 10-17 (7-11 SBC)
- ULM has posted the most single-season SBC wins in school history with 13. The 19 wins overall are the most since 2001-02
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“Give Georgia State credit. In the middle of the second half, their best players really stepped up, made shots and made plays. We went into a drought and really struggled to score. During that drought, we had a couple of plays that we really needed to make to stop the bleeding. We missed a dunk and two transition buckets at the rim. Those hurt and it became very difficult for us. Our guys played hard and with great effort, but we didn't play well offensively in the second half.”
On coming back with a 14-0 run after Georgia State opened the game on a 13-0 run
“Our guys were nervous in the first five minutes. It showed, but they calmed down and made a nice comeback. We played an excellent first half from that point forward. We then started out the second half okay.”
On penetrating Georgia State's defense
“Against Georgia State's matchup zone, we had to have big-time three-point shooting or some drivers, something to get at the rim. We went 2-of-15 from three and we really struggled to drive the ball in the second half. We did a good job in the first half, driving the ball, creating help, shooting it and maybe getting an offensive rebound. We don't have a lot of guys that can drive the ball, and the ones we do have really struggled in the second half.”
On DeMondre Harvey
“He played great. He gave us the lift we needed off the bench. He really rebounded the ball with toughness. He played above the rim and it was very encouraging to see DeMondre play like that. He played an excellent ball game.”
