Daishon Smith 3-pointer vs. Coastal Carolina 2019
Jeanette Robinson, ULM Photo Services
97
Winner COASTAL CAROLINA CCU 14-14, 8-8
91
ULM ULM 15-13, 8-8
Winner
COASTAL CAROLINA CCU
14-14, 8-8
97
Final
91
ULM ULM
15-13, 8-8
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
COASTAL CAROLINA CCU 45 52 97
ULM ULM 41 50 91

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Second-Half Rally Falls Short; ULM Drops Home Finale to Coastal Carolina, 97-91

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist

MONROE, La. – ULM waited too late to rally inside the friendly confines of Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Saturday. 

The Warhawks made it close after trailing by as many as 20 points. But in a game where Coastal Carolina dominated around the basket, the Warhawks fell 97-91 in the regular-season home finale. 

"It's pretty hard to win when you give up 97 on your home court," ULM coach Keith Richard said. "They deserve a ton of credit."

The Chanticleers outscored ULM, 52-28, in the paint, shot 57 percent and outrebounded the Warhawks, 35-18.

"On our end, we never could really and truly stop them very much," Richard said. "Man, zone, zone got 'em out of their rhythm for a little while, but they got a bunch of layups. They outscored us, 52-28, in the paint. That's off driving the ball to the rim, that's off some offensive rebounds, that's off some fast-break points, some turnover layups.

"We got crushed at the rim and that was the difference in the game."
  
ULM (15-13, 8-8) lost its second home game to drop to 12-2 at Fant-Ewing this season. 

"We gave them too many easy buckets," senior Travis Munnings said. "We have to make them work harder. We've got to get locked in on our defense."

Daishon Smith scored 29 points with seven 3-pointers, Munnings scored 23, Tyree White added 16 and J.D. Williams 11 for ULM. The Warhawks made 17-of-33 3-pointers but grew too reliant from the perimeter. The 17 3s tied ULM's single-game record.  

"We played pretty good offense ourselves," Richard said. "We shot 54 percent overall but just not enough defensive stops to help our offense go win this game."

After a close first half, Coastal Carolina (14-14, 8-8) started to run away in building a 20-point lead.

The Warhawks rallied in the final 10 minutes cutting the lead to 85-79 on a 3-pointer by White with 4:14 to play. ULM pulled within four at 90-86 on a steal and layup by Smith with 1:08 but could get no closer.  

ULM shot 58 percent in the second half, including 10-of-15 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough. 

DeVante' Jones paced Coastal with 30 points with Zac Cuthbertson adding 25 points. 

Coastal shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and led 45-41 at halftime. The Chanticleers led by as many as six points while ULM's last lead in the game was 19-17 with 9:57 to go before the break.

Munnings was the hot man early with 14 of ULM's first 25 points to keep the Warhawks close to the red-hot Chanticleers. He made four of his first six 3-pointers and was 5-for-7 from the floor after the tip. The rest of the team started off 3-for-11 from the field, but the Warhawks ended up shooting 50 percent overall (13-of-26) and 39 percent (7-of-18) on 3-pointers.  

Smith knocked down a pair of long-range 3-pointers to tie the game at 39-39 with 2:20 remaining in the half. The opening half featured seven ties.

Coastal started the second half with a 13-0 run to extend its lead to 58-41. Smith's 3-pointer ended ULM's scoring drought with 17:29 remaining.  

The Chanticleers continued to dominate inside and grew their lead to 20 points at 69-49 by the 14:35 mark.

"It's disappointing, being the last home game and what we're playing for in seeding in the tournament and all that," Richard said.

Senior Day: Seniors Calvin Anderson, Wade Martin, Travis Munnings, Brandon Newman and Daishon Smith were recognized and honored before the game.  Each player received an action photo, framed jersey and L Club plaque. Munnings also received a basketball commemorating membership in the 1,000-point/800-rebound career club.  

Up next: ULM finishes the regular season on the road with games at Arkansas State (March 7) and Little Rock (March 9). The Sun Belt Conference Championship is March 12-17. 

Tail feathers: ULM played "March on, Bahamaland," national anthem of the Bahamas, prior to the game to honor Munnings, Anderson and graduate assistant coach Prince Cooper, all products of Freeport, Bahamas. … Michael Ertel finished with just five points on 2-of-12 shooting. … Tyree White's 16 points were a career high. He made three 3-pointers and was part of the final surge for ULM.   
 
 
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