MONROE, La. – Travis Munnings and Marvin Jean-Pierre combined for 52 points to lead ULM to a 104-46 victory over NAIA Division I Independent Rust College on Sunday, Nov. 26 in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks topped the century mark for the first time since a 100-68 win over South Alabama on Jan. 23, 2016, and the 58-point margin of victory was the third largest in school history.
 
Munnings hit 14-of-18 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 three-pointers, en route to a career-high 31 points. Jean-Pierre connected on 10-of-11 shots from the floor, including 1-of-2 from behind the three-point arc, on his way to a season-high 21 points. As a team, ULM shot 60 percent from the floor (41-of-68) and outrebounded Rust, 38-20. The Warhawks also scored 42 points off 27 turnovers committed by the Bearcats.
 
"I thought this was a good comeback game after a very disappointing performance last week by our team against Northwestern State (76-61 loss)," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "Obviously, the competition wasn't as good today, but we didn't need it to be to work on some things that were a problem for us last week. We needed to play with a sense of urgency, play harder and play more aggressively. We also wanted to play with a bigger lineup and we did a little bit of that today as well.
 
"So, all that said, it was a good game. I'm glad we were at home to practice on these things and I think we can take a step forward now."
 
A layup by Munnings sparked a 13-4 run as ULM built a 44-28 lead with 3:18 left in the first half. A three-pointer from Lance Richard ignited a 7-0 spurt as the Warhawks built their largest lead of the first half at 51-30 on another Munnings layup with 29 seconds left. ULM lead 51-33 at the intermission. Munnings scored 19 first-half points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor.
 
As a team, the Warhawks shot 65 percent (22-34) from the field in the first 20 minutes and converted Rust's 11 first-half turnovers into 16 points.
 
ULM (2-3) broke the game open thanks to a 34-5 run in the second half and Brandon Newman's three-pointer gave the Warhawks a 51-point lead at 96-45 with 5:29 remaining. The Bearcats, who entered the game with an 80.6-point scoring average, failed to score a field goal over the final 12:32. Roderick Taylor's slam dunk with 53 seconds left provided the final 104-46 margin and gave ULM its biggest lead. Jean-Pierre hit all five of his field-goal attempts in the second half.
 
Sam McDaniel, who moved into the ULM starting lineup for the first time this season, contributed 13 points. Kiir Deng earned his first career start and provided seven points, six rebounds, three assists and a block in 28 minutes.
 
Munnings, who played a solid all-around game, posted a game-high nine rebounds to go along with five assists and three steals. Jean-Pierre also recorded a career-best five assists.
 
Twelve different players saw action for the Warhawks and 11 scored.
 
Rust (1-8) placed three players in double figures, led by Cameron Sembly who finished with 14 points, followed by Allen Potts 12 and Rickey McCollum 10.
 
ULM concludes its four-game homestand on Tuesday, Nov. 28 against Jackson State at 7 p.m.