MONROE, La. – Travis Munnings led four starters in double figures with 20 points as ULM won its second-straight Sun Belt game, defeating South Alabama, 83-74, Saturday (Jan. 27) in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
A transition layup by Munnings – off a nifty feed from Sam McDaniel – sparked a 12-2 run as the Warhawks jumped out to an 18-8 lead on Michael Ertel's 3-pointer from the right baseline. ULM outscored USA, 22-6, during a span of 5:03 and built its largest lead at 45-21 on a 3-pointer from Marvin Jean-Pierre with 2:27 left in the first half. Rodrick Sikes and Dederick Lee hit back-to-back 3s as the Jaguars cut their deficit to 18 at 45-27 with 39 seconds remaining in the opening half. The Warhawks led 47-29 at the intermission.
 
ULM (9-11, 3-6 Sun Belt) shot 57 percent (12-of-25) from the floor in the first half, including 4-of-10 3-pointers. The Warhawks made 11-straight field-goal attempts during a 6:57 stretch. Munnings and Ertel combined for 23 first-half points.
 
"You certainly don't see many of those halves," ULM head basketball coach Keith Richard said. "For a 10-minute stretch in the first half, we really had it going on both ends of the floor and it was nice to see. Offensively, we were efficient in the half court and took advantage of our fast-break opportunities."
 
Lee's 3-pointer from the right corner ignited a 17-5 spurt as USA (11-11, 4-5) pulled to within nine at 60-51 on two free throws by Sikes with 13:30 remaining in the second half. The Jaguars put together a 15-7 run and cut their deficit to four at 70-66 on Sikes' 3-pointer from the right wing with 7:09 to play. Leading 74-68, ULM regained control of the game by scoring nine-straight points to push its lead back to 15 at 83-68 with 30 seconds to play.
 
"We told the team at halftime that an 18-point lead wasn't safe, especially with the 3-point line," Richard said. "We just hoped we'd score enough to win the game. We struggled a little against the press in the second half and turned the ball over. We also weren't as efficient offensively and fatigue might have had a little bit to do with it. We had the lead and timeouts, but we wanted the clock to run. We hoped we had enough fuel in the tank to sprint to the finish.
 
"We played with toughness and made some plays the last four minutes of the game. We came up with four-straight stops and made some shots. Travis (Munnings) and Marvin (Jean-Pierre) hit some big 3s. We made enough plays on both ends of the floor to close out the game.
 
"(With consecutive wins over Troy and South Alabama) Hopefully, we're gaining confidence and momentum," Richard continued. "With five of the next seven conference games at home, we knew we had an opportunity to move up in the standings. We don't have to win them all; I wouldn't put that kind of pressure on the players. With these last two games, we've shown that we're capable of beating people in this league. We simply need to draw from these games as we move forward."
 
For the game, the Warhawks hit 53 percent (29-of-55) from the field, including 9-of-21 from behind the 3-point arc, and outrebounded USA, 34-26.
 
Jean-Pierre connected on 7-of-8 field-goal attempts and finished with 18 points. McDaniel scored 10 of his 18 points in the second half and added eight rebounds and five assists. ULM also got 17 points and seven rebounds from Ertel.
 
Sikes netted 26 of his career-high 38 points in the second half. Lee came off the USA bench to score 15 points, with 12 coming after the break.
 
ULM has a week off before concluding its three-game Sun Belt homestand against the Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m.