Daishon Smith dribble vs. Grambling State 2018
Siddharth Gaulee
67
GRAMBLING GSU 4-6
72
Winner ULM ULM 4-4
GRAMBLING GSU
4-6
67
Final
72
ULM ULM
4-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
GRAMBLING GSU 20 47 67
ULM ULM 28 44 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Smith, Munnings Lead ULM Past Grambling State, 72-67

MONROE, La. – Daishon Smith and Travis Munnings combined for 35 points to lead ULM to a 72-67 non-conference victory over Grambling State Tuesday, Dec. 11 in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. ULM never trailed while extending its series winning streak to eight-straight games over the Tigers.
 
Back-to-back baskets by Munnings, who finished the fast break with a dunk off a nifty pass from Smith and followed with a short hook shot right of the lane, gave the Warhawks a 7-2 lead. Grambling State (4-6) converted four-straight free throws – two each from Ivy Smith Jr. and Zavier Peart – to cut its deficit to 7-6 with 14:29 to play in the opening half. JD Williams buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to spark a 13-3 run as ULM (4-4) built a 13-point advantage at 26-13 with 4:13 left in the first half. The Tigers outscored the Warhawks, 7-2, over the final 3:54 to pull to within 28-20 at the intermission.
 
ULM limited to Grambling State to 25 percent (5-of-20) shooting from the field in the first half, including just 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
 
Nigel Ribeiro drove the right side of the lane for a layup and knocked down a jumper just inside the top of the circle as the Tigers closed the gap to 28-24 early in the second half. ULM responded with a 15-2 spurt and built its largest lead at 17 points, 43-26, as Munnings connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 14:34 remaining in the second half. Grambling State put together a 14-6 run and cut its deficit to 59-53 on a jumper by Dallas Polk-Hilliard with 6:37 to play. The Warhawks scored six-straight points and pushed their lead back into double digits at 66-55 as Michael Ertel broke the press down the left side of the floor and finished with a layup high off the glass with 4:26 left in the game. The Tigers went on a 7-0 run and rallied to within 66-62 as Polk-Hilliard grabbed a loose ball in the lane for a layup with 2:17 on the clock. ULM hit 6-of-8 free-throw attempts over the final 1:59 to ice the game.
 
"First of all, I'm glad we won," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "Grambling State is hard to play against because they've got some size inside and they play hard. Coach (Donte') Jackson does a good job, and his team showed some grit in the second half. We got up by 17 early in the second half, but we let them back in it. The games against Grambling State have been dogfights the last two years.
 
"We played great defense in the first half, especially against their size. We held them to 25 percent shooting from the field in the first half. We were not as good defensively in the second half. They're size wore us down a little bit. They started taking us off the dribble, and they got the ball into the post a few times.
 
"Grambling State cut our lead to six with about six-and-half minutes left to go, and I had to use my last timeout to get Travis and Mike back in the game," Richard continued. "That's not really something you want to do with that much time left, but we had to have our best ball-handlers and free-throw shooters in there down the stretch.
 
"We made just enough plays down the stretch to win the game, which is what you're supposed to do in a close game at home. It was good to win a game like that because we haven't played many close games so far this season. We work on situational things all the time in practice, but it's different executing those game-ending situations in a real game. So, this experience will be good for us moving forward."
 
Smith scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to pace the Warhawks. Munnings finished with 16 points while Ertel and Williams each contributed 11 points. Andre Washington added nine points and matched his career high with 11 rebounds.
 
"Since coming back from the hamstring injury, Daishon penetrated more against the half-court defense tonight and that's a good sign," Richard said. "He's almost back to where he needs to be from a health standpoint. When Daishon can penetrate, it's not only important for him to get to the rim for layups, but it's equally important for him to kick the ball back out for wide open 3s.
 
"It's always a positive when you look at the box score and see four starters in double figures. For the third game in a row, I thought we shared the ball very ball, and the ball movement was pretty good. We didn't have a lot of assists tonight because we didn't make a lot of shots. So, we ran good sets and got good shots, but unfortunately, the ball just didn't go in the basket a lot."
 
ULM shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the floor, including 7-of-24 (29 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
 
"I attribute some of our offensive woes tonight to the 10-day layoff," Richard said. "We were a bit rusty. We're a much better 3-point shooting team than we showed tonight. We came into tonight shooting 39 percent from the 3-point line but hit 29 percent tonight.
 
"We had only six turnovers in the game and really just one against their pressure all night long. But we should handle the pressure well because we have a lot of skilled guards on the floor. We worked against the press during the break, and we did an excellent job against their stuff tonight. At times, Grambling struggles to score, so you don't want to turn the ball over and give them easy layups, easy points. We took care of the basketball against their pressure, so that played a big part in us winning tonight."
 
Polk-Hilliard, who hit 6-of-12 field-goal attempts and collected a career-high 11 boards, led Grambling State with 18 points. The Tigers also got 12 points each from Ivy Smith Jr. and Devante Jackson.
 
Grambling State outrebounded ULM, 41-31.
 
ULM continues its four-game homestand against Stephen F. Austin (5-3) on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.
 
"Facing Stephen F. Austin is just like playing a Sun Belt Conference game because they're a very athletic team," Richard said. "This is a quality game in December. SFA has a good, well-coached team and a good basketball program. There's a reason why they're picked to win the Southland Conference. They've already had some good wins this season. I'm just glad we've got them at home.
 
"Hopefully, we can knock the rest of the rust off offensively. We're going to have to play better offense and shoot the ball much better Saturday in order to give ourselves a chance to win."
 
 
ULM BASKETBALL: UPCOMING HOLIDAY PROMOTIONS
 
Youth Day: Saturday, Dec. 15 vs. Stephen F. Austin (2 p.m. tipoff)
Youth 18 and under will receive a free general admission ticket to the Dec. 15 game against Stephen F. Austin. Following the game, children 12 and under will be permitted on the court to shoot free throws for 30 minutes.
 
Holiday Toy Drive: Tuesday, Dec. 18 vs. Nicholls State (7 p.m. tipoff)
Bring a new, unwrapped toy to the Dec. 18 game against Nicholls State and receive a free reserved seat ticket ($15 value). Donated toys will be distributed to children in the local community by the Salvation Army.
 
Buy One Get One Free: Friday, Dec. 21 vs. Coppin State (7 p.m. tipoff)
Purchase a courtside ($25), reserved seat ($15) or general admission ($10) ticket and receive a second one of the same value for free to the Dec. 21 game against Coppin State.
 
 
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