MONROE, La. – The ULM men's basketball program will head into the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships on a nine-game winning-streak after defeating Georgia State, 91-78 on Senior Day at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Saturday.
With the win, ULM (19-12, 15-5 SBC) finished the regular season with a perfect 13-0 record at home. The Warhawks have also won 13 of the last 14 games overall.
The Warhawks trailed GSU (16-13, 9-1 SBC) by 10 points in the first half when they ended the period on a 21-4 run to take control. ULM went into the intermission in front by nine points and its lead never dipped below that in the second half.
ULM shot .596 (31-52) from the field, its highest percentage in conference play this year. It posted a .667 (18-27) field goal percentage in the second half. The Warhawks also went 21-25 (.840) from the free throw line and dominated the Panthers on the glass, 34-20.
Senior Majok Deng registered a game-high 22 points to go along with his seven rebounds and three blocks. Senior Justin Roberson recorded 19 points and six rebounds. Senior DeMondre Harvey tallied 17 points and went 11-12 from the free throw line. Senior Jamaal Samuel finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
Junior Nick Coppola dished out 11 assists and needs just three more to match Larry Saulters for the all-time lead in school history with 398.
GSU was led by Markus Crider's 18 points. Also in double-figures were Jeremy Hollowell with 16 points, Jeff Thomas 13 and Isaiah Williams 10.
Tied 15-15 in the first half, the Panthers went on a 10-0 spurt to take a 25-15 lead with 9:51 remaining.
ULM trailed 28-20 when it answered with a monster 16-0 run which included a pair of three-point plays by Roberson and a dunk by Deng to go up 36-28 at the 2:16 mark. Samuel drilled a three-pointer and Harvey buried a pair of free throws to extend it to a 21-2 run and make it a 41-30 game. The Warhawks carried a 41-32 lead into the break after a basket by Crider.
The Warhawks opened the second half on a 6-0 run as Coppola assisted on dunks to Deng and Samuel to push the lead up to 47-32 with 17:58 left. A fast-break lay-up by Roberson extended the lead to 58-40 with 13:22 remaining.
Still in front 68-52, GSU's Thomas hit back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to 68-58 at the 7:58 mark. ULM responded with a 6-0 run which included a pair of buckets by Roberson to go back up 74-58 with 6:50 left.
The Panthers kept fighting and were able to force turnovers to get the deficit back down to 85-76 with 1:57 remaining but couldn't not get any closer.
Up next, ULM will play in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championships at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 12. The Warhawks clinched a double-bye and will play as the No. 2 seed against an opponent to be determined.
NOTES
- ULM honored Harvey, Mack Foster, Samuel, Deng and Roberson on Senior Day with a special presentation before the game. All five are on pace to graduate with Bachelor's degrees from ULM in the spring
- With 15 SBC wins, the Warhawks improved their conference win total for the fourth consecutive year
- ULM's nine-game winning streak is its longest in 17 seasons. It entered the game with the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation
- The last time the Warhawks were perfect at home was 2006-07. They had finished the year perfect at home four times coming into this season. ULM improved to 417-173 all-time at Fant-Ewing Coliseum
- ULM now holds a 29-11 SBC record over the last two years, best in the league by four games
- The Warhawks improved to 12-0 in conference play this season when they score at least 70 points, 10-0 when they shoot over 50 percent from the field and 9-0 when they have more points in the paint. ULM outscored GSU 40-34 in points in the paint in the game
- The 16-0 run in the first half was the most consecutive points the Warhawks have scored in a league game this year and the most since a 17-0 spurt against McMurry in the season-opener
- ULM is now 13-1 since switching its starting lineup to Coppola, Roberson, Deng, Samuel and Harvey
- The Warhawks improved to 6-5 all-time against GSU and 4-2 at home
- ULM entered the game leading the league in field goal percentage (.455) and upped it with a .596 mark
- Deng posted his 13th career 20-plus scoring game and 11th this year. It was also his 50th career double-figure scoring game and 25th this season. Deng has scored at least 13 points in 22 of his last 24 outings. With three blocks in the game, he moved into a tie for fourth-place all-time at ULM with Terry Martin who also swatted 99 shots
- Roberson notched his 37th career double-figure scoring game and 22nd this season. He went 8-13 from the field and 2-4 from long-range. He entered the game ranked fourth in the league from three-point range with a .417 clip
- Samuel reached double-figures in scoring for the 16th time this year and 24th time in his career. He went 5-8 from the field and 2-5 from beyond-the-arc
- Harvey totaled his ninth double-figure scoring game this season and 13th of his career. He entered the contest shooting .557 from the field and went 3-5 (.600) in the game
- Munnings came into play ranked fourth in the SBC in field goal percentage (.516) and shot 2-4 in the game
- Foster went 4-4 from the free throw line and his four makes were a career-high. He finished with seven points off the bench
- Coppola's 11 assists matched a season-high. It marked his fifth career double-figure assist outing and fourth this year. He played a game-high 39 minutes
- The Warhawks secured back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1992-93, 93-94. They also solidified back-to-back winning seasons in league play for the first time since 1998-99, 99-00
- ULM finished ahead of where it was projected in the SBC Preseason Poll for the third year in a row. The Warhawks were picked to finish third this year
- The Warhawks clinched their 40th winning season in school history. ULM is in its 65th season at the Division I level
Quoting ULM head coach Keith Richard
On extending the winning-streak and going unbeaten at home
“It feels good and our players have been on an unbelievable run. At times we looked pretty good out there today.”
On the seniors
“They've played a vital role for us. All the statistics, winning streaks and accomplishments that they've accumulated speaks for itself. We talk a lot about the “old days” around here, but over the last two years it's been like the old days. These kids have done some things that haven't been done in a long, long time around here and I'm really proud of them.”
On breaking GSU's press
“We made it a point that we wanted to really push it if they pressed us and go score out of it. We wanted to do the same when we got stops and rebounds, push it on the break so we wouldn't have to play against it. In the second half, there were times that we really got to the rim. We took it to the rim and got fouled a lot against their match-up press which is what you have to do. It's easy to get shot-happy against them from three-point range, and unless you're making a lot of them you're in trouble. That happened to us a little bit in the first half and we weren't getting the ball inside. That's what their defense can do to you at times. ”
On going undefeated at home
“I'm really proud of that. We've talked about being a team that can win, get pats on the back for doing so, and then turn around and win again in the next game. They've done well with that over the past two months. We've continued to lock-in on the next day, the next game and the next team. When you have senior leadership it's important to do that kind of thing.”
