LAFAYETTE, La. – The ULM men's basketball program trailed by six with 1:38 remaining in the game when it came back to force overtime, but UL-Lafayette was able to outlast the Warhawks for a 72-65 final on Tuesday at the Cajundome.
ULM (10-12, 6-5 SBC) was down six when senior DeMondre Harvey converted an old-fashion three-point play to cut it to 62-59 with 1:17 left. After a stop on the other end, senior Justin Roberson got a lay-up to go, got fouled and made the free throw to even it with 52 seconds remaining.
The Cajuns (12-8, 8-3 SBC) came back with a dunk by Shawn Long, but senior Majok Deng drew a foul with 22 seconds left and made both free throws to tie it again, 64-64 with 22 ticks. ULL's Kasey Shepherd shot a contested three-pointer at the buzzer but it was off the mark which sent the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Cajuns hit a pair of field goals and went four-for-four from the free throw line, while the Warhawks shot 0-5 from the field.
Roberson led the Warhawks with 21 points and six rebounds. Senior Jamaal Samuel finished with 17 points on five three-pointers made and Deng tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Deng, Roberson and junior Nick Coppola all played 45 minutes. Coppola and Harvey ended with seven points apiece. Coppola is the reigning College Sports Madness SBC Player of the Week winner.
The Cajuns were led by Long's 28 points and 17 rebounds. He helped ULL to a 51-20 rebounding advantage including 20-9 on the offensive end. Johnathan Stove also reached double-figures with 13 points.
A quick five points from Roberson and a pair of three-pointers by Samuel got ULM out to an early 11-4 lead. Still up 13-7, ULL used a 7-1 run on a pair of jumpers and three-pointer to even it, 14-14 at the 12:11 mark.
The Cajuns broke a 19-19 tie with a pair of free throws and a layup to go up 23-19 with 7:31 remaining. ULM trailed 25-21 when it answered with a 6-0 run, capped by a steal and dunk by Roberson, to jump back ahead 27-25 with 4:18 to go. The Warhawks carried a 33-32 edge into the intermission.
After ULL scored the first bucket of the second half, ULM came back with a three-pointer by Samuel and a strong move inside by Harvey to take a 38-34 lead with 17:27 left. The Warhawks were up 41-39 when they used a 9-0 spurt which included a jumper and three-pointer by Samuel to lead 50-39 at the 11:40 mark.
The Warhawks were on top 52-41 when the Cajuns responded with a game-turning 19-2 run take the lead, 60-54 behind a rowdy crowd with 5:42 remaining. It was also a 15-0 spurt. ULL held on to the six-point lead up until the 1:38 mark.
ULM will have Thursday off before returning to the court on Saturday at Appalachian State at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
NOTES
- It was UL-Lafayette's first win over ULM in the last four tries. The teams split the season series and also the last two meetings in Lafayette. The Warhawks won the first meeting this year, 81-70 on Dec. 3, 2015
- ULM has held SBC opponents to under 75 points in 38 of the last 39 games
- The Warhawks have won four of their last five games, all with the starting lineup of Coppola, Roberson, Deng, Samuel and Harvey. The Warhawks hold a winning SBC record after 11 games for the second year in a row
- ULM committed just nine turnovers in the game and UL-Lafayette had 13
- Roberson has now posted the five highest scoring totals of his career in the last six games, all of at least 20 points. His 45 minutes marked a career-high. Roberson leads the team in steals and got his hands on a pair in the contest. It marked his 29th career double-figure scoring game and 14th this season
- Samuel's five three-pointers were a career-high, surpassing the four he made at Kent State this season. It was his 20th career double-digit scoring game and 12th this year
- Deng has scored at least 13 points in 14 of his last 15 outings. It was his 42nd career double-figure scoring game and 17th this season. Deng ranks seventh all-time in career blocks at ULM with 81 and needs eight more to catch Rudy Turner and move into sixth
- Coppola played at least 40 minutes for the 32nd time in his career. He moved up to No. 6 in ULM history in career starts with 87, tying Brian Lubeck. Coppola has started every game of his career. He needs four more starts to catch Arthur Hayes who is in fifth. Coppola also moved into a tie for fifth all-time in career assists with Tony Hooper who dished out 339. Coppola needs two more to catch Bobby Douglas who is in fourth with 341 assists
- With Coppola's CSM Player of the Week award earned on Monday, ULM has won four weekly honors in the last two weeks. Last week, Roberson won both Sun Belt Conference and Louisiana Student-Athlete of the Week, and Deng was named CSM Player of the Week. The Warhawks have won six weekly awards on the season
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
Opening Statement
“They had 21 offensive rebounds. I mentioned during the pregame how they were second in the league in offensive rebounding, we harped on it for two days and worked on it. We went over it again before the game, and that was the story of the game along with Shawn Long. We couldn't keep him off the boards. He was outstanding tonight. Still, even with that, we had a chance and we missed some layups around the bucket when we had a lead. We had a chance to really extend the lead and didn't. They made plays on their end and we couldn't even block them out on free throws. Give credit to UL-Lafayette. We played hard, we played well, but sometimes toughness wins. I thought UL-Lafayette out-toughed us tonight. There were some tough-man plays that determined the game.”
On coming back late after giving up the lead
“We caught our breath and made a couple of plays and got fouled. That's what this game ended up being about. It was about plays around the bucket. It became a war in the paint and we didn't win that battle, at least not enough to win the game. It's disappointing. The players are disappointed, we're all disappointed obviously. But this has happened to us before too so we have to keep trying to learn why we're not getting over the hump down the stretch. We'll go back to the film room and try to get it figured out.”
