STATESBORO, Ga. – Senior Justin Roberson netted a career-high 20 points, but the ULM men's basketball program dropped a 66-51 decision to Georgia Southern on Saturday at Hanner Fieldhouse.
Roberson went 7-15 from the field and drained a trio of three-pointers. Senior Majok Deng also made a big contribution for ULM (6-11, 2-4 SBC) as he totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was Deng's fourth double-double of the season.
Mike Hughes led the Eagles (6-10, 2-4 SBC) with 15 points and six rebounds. Ike Smith recorded 14 points and six rebounds, while Tookie Brown registered 12 points.
Georgia Southern shot 21-50 (.420) from the field and held the Warhawks to an 18-59 (.305) mark. The Eagles also went 16-20 (.800) from the free throw line.
The Warhawks trailed 16-7 in the first half when Roberson knocked down a pair of three-pointers to spark a 7-0 run and cut the deficit to 16-14 at the 7:10 mark. ULM was down 18-16 when the Eagles closed the half on a 14-5 run to take a 32-21 lead into the break. GSO made five of its last 10 shots in the half.
Roberson scored the first four points of the second half to make it a 32-25 game with 16:42 to go. The Eagles made five consecutive field goals to push their lead up to 43-31 with 13:21 remaining. ULM answered with an 8-0 run which included a three-pointer by Deng and five points from Roberson to get the deficit down to 43-39 at the 10:58 mark.
GSO responded with a pair of three-pointers to go back up 49-39 at the nine-minute mark. The Eagles extended their lead to 56-42 with 5:39 remaining after a 7-0 run.
It was the final of a four-game road trip for the Warhawks. ULM will return home on Thursday when it hosts Troy at 7:00 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
NOTES
- The Warhawks moved to 9-4 all-time against Georgia Southern and 5-2 on the road
- ULM has now held SBC opponents to under 75 points in 34 straight games including postseason play
- The Warhawks outrebounded the Eagles, 39-38
- Roberson broke his previous career-high of 19 points set twice. It was his seventh double-figure scoring game in his last eight outings. Roberson tallied his 25th career double-digit scoring game and 10th this year. He became the second Warhawk to score at least 20 points in a game this season along with Deng. Roberson is also leading the team in steals for the second straight year and grabbed a game-high three in the contest
- Deng etched his 12th career double-double. It was his 37th career double-figure scoring game and 12th this season. Deng pulled down his 12th career double-digit rebounding game and four this year
- Senior Jamaal Samuel matched his season-high with eight rebounds set previously at home against Chattanooga on Nov. 30, 2015
- Freshman Wade Martin scored the first points of his career on a three-pointer at the 1:06 mark of the first half
