Michael Ertel dribble drive vs Coastal Carolina 2019 SBC
Sun Belt Conference
80
Winner ULM ULM 18-14, 9-9 SBC
50
Coastal Carolina CCU 15-16, 9-9 SBC
Winner
ULM ULM
18-14, 9-9 SBC
80
Final
50
Coastal Carolina CCU
15-16, 9-9 SBC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
ULM ULM 41 39 80
Coastal Carolina CCU 31 19 50

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM’s Defense Locks Down Coastal in 80-50 Win in Sun Belt Second Round

NEW ORLEANS – Michael Ertel and Travis Munnings combined for 37 points, and ULM limited Coastal Carolina to 29.5 percent field-goal shooting as the Warhawks rolled to an 80-50 victory Thursday night (March 14) in the Sun Belt Championship second round.
 
Seventh-seeded ULM (18-14) had a strong defensive effort against No. 6-seed Coastal Carolina, which had scored 92 and 97 points, respectively, during its regular-season sweep over the Warhawks.
 
Coastal (15-16) got off to an auspicious start, hitting three of its first five 3-point field-goal attempts while jumping out to an 11-2 lead. Ertel hit a pull-up jumper left of the lane and a 3-pointer from the left corner to spark a 17-2 run as ULM took a 19-13 lead on a Munnings' layup with 9:35 remaining in the first half. The Chanticleers answered with a 10-3 spurt and regained the lead at 23-22 on Tyrell Gumbs-Frater's 3 from the right baseline with 7:31 to play in the opening half. The Warhawks took the lead for good at 28-25 on Ertel's 3-pointer from the left wing. ULM outscored Coastal, 16-6, over the final 6:34 to build a 10-point halftime advantage at 41-31.
 
The Warhawks broke the game open with a 13-2 run to open the second. Munnings accounted for eight points during the surge and his layup gave ULM a 54-33 lead with 14:03 to play in the game. Andre Washington's alley-oop dunk, off a feed from Tyree White with 43 second left, resulted in ULM's largest lead and the final margin at 80-50.
 
ULM held Coastal Carolina 27 points below its season scoring average.
 
The Chanticleers struggled to find any offensive rhythm against the Warhawks, hitting 18-of-61 field-goal attempts including just 5-of-25 3-pointers. In the second half, Coastal went 6-of-31 from the floor (19 percent) including 0-of-12 from 3-point range.
 
"It was our best defensive effort of the year, holding Coastal Carolina to 29-percent field-goal shooting … 19 percent in the second half," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "I felt with this team if we could ever find some defense, we could win some games because our offense is pretty good. It's been a year-long search for that kind of a defensive effort. And tonight, we really got hit. Those field-goal percentage defense numbers are phenomenal, and that's why the final margin was so big.
 
"In particular, Travis Munnings did a tremendous job defending Zac Cuthbertson (nine points on 3-of-9 field-goal shooting), who really hurt us in the previous regular-season games (29 and 25 points, respectively).  
 
"Both teams came out really fatigued at the start of the second half," Richard continued. "You could see it in both teams in the first five minutes. But we hit some 3s in those first five minutes … Ertel hit one, Munnings hit one and (JD) Williams hit a short shot from the baseline. Those 3s really helped us in that moment because both teams were struggling to catch their breath. Those 3s got us back into the flow and helped push the lead out. Coastal missed some open 3s in the first five minutes too that they normally hit. So, that certainly helped us."
 
By contrast, ULM shot 63 percent (15-of-24) from the field in the second half, including 6-of-12 3-pointers (50 percent), while outscoring Coastal, 39-19. For the game, the Warhawks hit 28-of-56 field-goal attempts (50 percent), including 14-of-31 (45 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.
 
Ertel, who made 7-of-12 shots from the floor including 4-of-6 3s, finished with a game-high 20 points, six rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Munnings scored 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-7 3-pointers, and collected seven rebounds. Daishon Smith added 13 points, with all coming in the first half.
 
"I take pride in playing on both ends of the floor," Munnings said. "I want to be a versatile player. I don't want to be known just as a scorer but as a rebounder and defender. Coach (Richard) is pushing me every day to slide my feet, stay in front of the ball and try to take the best angles. So, I was locked in tonight to do the best job that I could.
 
"We knew Coastal Carolina wasn't going to lay down in the second half. We knew the first four minutes were important to extend the lead. We had to focus on defense because the game was far from over. Throughout the season, we had had defensive issues in the second half. At times, we didn't play good enough defense to win. We wanted to stay locked in and true to the scouting report. Tonight, I really felt like we let our defense lead to offense."
 
Coastal got 15 points from Tommy Burton and 12 off the bench from Gumbs-Frater.
 
With its second-round victory, ULM advances to face third-seeded Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Championship quarterfinals on Friday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. The two teams split the regular-season series, with Georgia Southern winning 79-78 in Statesboro and ULM posting an 88-79 in Monroe.
 
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