JD Williams layup vs Georgia State 2019
Jason Getz
73
UL Monroe ULM(1)~1 9-7, 2-2 SBC
74
Winner Georgia State GSU 13-4, 4-0 SBC
UL Monroe ULM(1)~1
9-7, 2-2 SBC
73
Final
74
Georgia State GSU
13-4, 4-0 SBC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UL Monroe ULM(1)~1 28 45 73
Georgia State GSU 39 35 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM Stages Furious Second-Half Comeback but Falls at Georgia State, 74-73

ATLANTA – D'Marcus Simonds scored a game-high 28 points, including the game-winning layup with 0.9 seconds left, to give Georgia State a 74-73 victory over ULM Saturday, Jan. 12 in the GSU Sports Arena.
 
ULM (9-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) staged a furious second-half comeback, outscoring GSU, 32-10, to erase a 21-point deficit and claimed a 73-72 lead on Daishon Smith's layup with 5.5 seconds left. Following a 30-second timeout, Simonds took a pass from Kane Williams and drove from the top of the 3-point arc all the way to the basket without a dribble, splitting two defenders, to score a controversial game-winning basket.
 
Late Saturday, the Sun Belt Conference issued a one-game suspension for the officiating crew.
 
"When such an egregious error occurs that directly determines the outcome of a game, it cannot be ignored," Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said.
 
There were two ties and three lead changes in the first half.
 
ULM jumped out to a 10-7 lead on Tyree White's 12-foot jumper from the left baseline with 16:08 left in the opening half. The Panthers scored six-straight points and took a 13-10 lead on Simonds' 3-pointer from the top of the circle. GSU put together an 11-3 run midway through the first half to build a 12-point lead at 33-21 on Devin Mitchell's deep 3 from the right wing with 4:55 remaining. The Panthers took a 39-28 lead to the locker room, thanks to Malik Benlevi's tip-in with one second left in the first half.
 
The Warhawks shot a dismal 24 percent (7-of-29) from the field in the first half, including just 3-of-20 from 3-point range (15 percent).
 
Simonds netted 14 first-half points for GSU, hitting 6-of-11 shots from the floor, including 2-of-5 3-pointers.
 
Early in the second half, GSU outscored ULM, 17-5, over a stretch of 4:21 to build its largest lead at 62-41 on Mitchell's trey from the left corner with 12:21 to play. Michael Ertel's 3-pointer from the top of the circle sparked a 12-0 run as the Warhawks pulled to within eight at 64-56 on two free throws by JD Williams with 7:48 left. Trailing 72-60, a conventional three-point play from Travis Munnings fueled a 13-0 spurt and ULM regained the lead at 73-72 on a nifty feed from Ertel to Smith for a layup with 5.5 seconds on the clock.
 
"We really played well the last 10 minutes of the game," Richard said. "We were struggling to find our way out there. We finally calmed down on offense and started driving the ball. Once we did, we got some layups, drew some fouls and shot some wide open 3s. We also got some stops on the defense end and got out in transition. Those things got us back in the game. We played it just like we wanted to play it down the stretch, except for the last play.
 
"We came into the game knowing that we could get a bunch of open 3s just by the way Georgia State plays defense and the offense we were going to run. In the first half, we shot 20 3s, and that's a lot but only three of them weren't good shots. The 3s just weren't going in. At halftime, we talked about adjusting and driving the ball a little more to see if we could get some layups since we were struggling uncharacteristically from the 3-point line. In the second half, we were able to spread them out defensively because we came into the game shooting a high percentage and we shot a bunch of 3s in the first half. We got a bunch of layups in the second half, both in our half-court offense and on the break after getting some stops.
 
"We had to try three or four different things on the defensive end to try and stop them," Richard continued. "They're really hard to guard because they've got shooters all over the floor as well as drivers that really lower their heads and attack the rim. We finally found something that worked on the defensive end, and we got some fast-break points out of it."
 
ULM made 15-of-28 second-half field-goal attempts (54 percent), including 5-of-11 3-pointers (46 percent). The Warhawks outrebounded GSU, 23-13, in the second half and finished with a +12 rebound margin at 44-32.
 
Williams and Ertel combined for 37 points as four Warhawks posted double figures. Williams scored a team-high 19 points, with 12 coming in the second half. Ertel, who made 5-of-6 second-half field-goal attempts including 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc, netted 15 second-half points and finished with 18. Munnings recorded his first double-double of the season and 14th of his career with 11 points and 13 rebounds (four offensive boards). Smith contributed 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
Georgia State (13-4, 4-0) also got 16 points from Mitchell, who shot 6-of-13 from the floor including 4-of-10 from 3-point distance.
 
ULM resumes Sun Belt play against the Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks are a perfect 7-0 at home this season while averaging 85.3 points per game.
 
"This is a critical point in our season," Richard said. "We took two crushing blows here on this road swing (back-to-back one-point losses at Georgia Southern and Georgia State). How we handle this adversity and respond might well tell the tale for our season. We need to get away for a minute and breathe. We'll come back to work Monday, put these games behind us and move forward."
 
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