Brandon Newman layup vs. South Alabama 2019
Jeanette Robinson, ULM Photo Services
78
Winner SOUTH ALABAMA USA 10-11, 3-5
72
ULM ULM 11-8, 4-3
Winner
SOUTH ALABAMA USA
10-11, 3-5
78
Final
72
ULM ULM
11-8, 4-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
SOUTH ALABAMA USA 32 46 78
ULM ULM 34 38 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Home Winning Streak Ends; ULM Falls to South Alabama, 78-72

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
MONROE, La. – ULM stumbled on its homecourt Saturday for the first time this season in a 78-72 loss to South Alabama. 

The Warhawks (11-8, 4-3) won their first nine home games before their fortunes ran out against the visiting Jaguars (10-11, 3-5) before a season-high home crowd of 5,206.

"The story of the game in the second half was their ability to score in the paint, either off the drive or off a turnover or in the post," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "And really, our inability to do it on this end."

South Alabama exploited ULM inside and outscored the Warhawks, 42-22, in the paint. On a day when ULM made 11-of-33 3-pointers and shot 41 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, it was too much to overcome.  

"They played a really, really spread out zone," Richard said. "We needed to drive it from the perimeter, cut inside of it a little bit. But we didn't get enough 2-point field goals to keep up with the 2-point field goals they were getting."

Neither team could pull away in the game as the score was tied 11 times, including eight times in the second half.

Daishon Smith led ULM with 19 points, Travis Munnings scored 15 and Brandon Newman scored 10 off the bench. 

Trhae Mitchell paced the Jaguars with 23 points while Josh Ajayi scored 19. John Pettway added 16 and Herb McGee scored 12 for USA, which shot 52.7 percent overall from the field.

"This has been happening all year, but we've been able to overcome it a lot of times with our offense," Richard said. "Here's one game where our offense couldn't overcome it." 

A close, low-wattage first half saw ULM take a 34-32 lead into halftime.  

The Warhawks 44.8 percent (13 of 29) from the floor and just 27.8 percent (5 of 18) on 3 pointers. Munnings and Newman led ULM in first-half scoring with seven points each. 

Newman led the bench brigade with his 3-of-3 shooting, including a 3-pointer in seven minutes. With Munnings and JD Williams limited with two fouls, ULM's bench outscored South Alabama, 12-2, in the opening half. 

After leading by as many as eight in the first half, the Warhawks couldn't put the pesky Jaguars away in the second half.

ULM got sloppy over a stretch of several minutes with four turnovers and the Jaguars took advantage. A steal and breakaway dunk by Pettway with 8:12 gave South Alabama the lead at 56-55.

"The plays that bothered me the most were the turnovers that led to layups," Richard said.  

The Warhawks wouldn't regain the lead until the 4:05 mark on a pair of Smith free throws and that was short-lived as South Alabama answered again.

Munnings followed with a layup and converted a conventional 3-point play with the free throw to tie the score 66-66. 

Free throws by Ajayi and Mitchell extended USA's lead before Herb McGee's long 3-pointer gave the Jaguars a 73-66 lead with 27 seconds remaining.  

That proved to be the dagger and ULM couldn't make up the deficit down the stretch as the Jaguars made 12-of-14 shots from the free throw line in the second half. 

"It was still a tie game with a couple of minutes to go," Richard said. "Lo and behold, they scored inside or got fouled and we miss a couple of 3s. That's it. While the 3-ball is nice and we've shot it well at times this season, I think our inability in this particular game to defend the 2 and to score the 2 was the difference in the game."

Up next: A two-game road swing at Coastal Carolina (Jan. 31, 6 p.m.) and Appalachian State (Feb. 2, 1 p.m.) arrives on the schedule before ULM returns home to face Georgia State (Feb. 6) and Georgia Southern (Feb. 8). 

Tailfeathers: Oak Grove/West Carroll Parish Community Day at ULM brought out the headliners from that neck of the woods. ULM presented Oak Grove Mayor Adam T. Holland with a commemorative basketball while Teddy Garcia, the clutch place-kicker on the 1987 National Championship team, coached one of the youth teams from the Family Life Basketball League that provided halftime entertainment. … Tyree White went down with 5:37 left in the game with an apparent right leg injury and needed help leaving the court. … ULM fell to 10-1 in games it led at halftime this season.  
 
 
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