Tyree White drive vs UT Arlington 2020
Ellman Photography
77
Winner Georgia St. GSU 16-9,9-5 Sun Belt
69
La.-Monroe ULM 6-17,2-12 Sun Belt
Winner
Georgia St. GSU
16-9,9-5 Sun Belt
77
Final
69
La.-Monroe ULM
6-17,2-12 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Georgia St. GSU 32 45 77
La.-Monroe ULM 29 40 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM’s Second-Half Rally Falls Short Against Georgia State, 77-69

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
MONROE, La. – Head coach Keith Richard can see the good in his team, even if the record and the current 10-game losing streak would paint a different picture.
 
But he also realizes that bad stretches in any game can derail the best effort. It's a familiar pattern that has undermined ULM basketball this season.
  
"We're not a bad team and it's not that we're not very good," Richard said. "There's minutes in all these games all year long where we look like a pretty decent basketball team. But, there is something not right with this team, whether it be some added personnel or the right mix and matching. Whatever it is, I don't know. If I knew, I'd have done it already. But it keeps us from being better than our record shows."
    
Four players reached double figures in scoring for ULM on Saturday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum, but it wasn't enough to stop Georgia State in a 77-69 loss.
 
Tyree White led the way with 19 points along with nine rebounds while Michael Ertel added 17 points. Off the bench, Youry White delivered career highs in points (11) and rebounds (10) for his first double-double. Erie Olonade also scored 11 points for the Warhawks.
  
ULM (6-17, 2-12) let this one get away with a bad stretch to open the second half.
 
The Panthers emerged from the break with an 11-2 run to go ahead 43-31 as ULM fell into a lull. Tyree White's fast break dunk at the 15:17 mark broke the streak but the damage was done.
 
"I guess I'm going to have to do something different the first five minutes of the second half because it cost us both these games," said Richard, whose team suffered a similar second-half slump in Thursday night's 67-65 loss to Georgia Southern.
  
ULM kept it close through most of the first half with a solid defensive effort. Georgia State pulled away from a 17-17 tie with a 9-0 run as ULM went 3:45 without scoring.
 
"We played great half-court defense in the first half," Richard said. "I mean great. But turnovers and offensive rebounds. … sometimes we're our own worst enemy."
 
The Warhawks struggled with a field goal drought that lasted more than five minutes but stayed close as Georgia State also couldn't buy a bucket for more than five minutes (0-for-8). ULM cut the lead to one at 28-27 on a pair of Josh Nicholas free throws and trailed 32-29 at halftime.
 
Boosted by its fast start in the second half, Georgia State built its biggest lead of 16 at 56-40 with 9:40 remaining in the game before a 9-0 ULM run cut the deficit to 56-49.
  
Back-to-back jumpers from Ertel shaved the lead to five at 63-58 during a productive stretch that saw ULM make five consecutive baskets.
 
Allen stroked a 3-pointer from the corner and hit a short jumper to quiet the Warhawks and extend the lead back to 68-58.
 
White delivered a follow dunk and scored off a steal during ULM's final push to shave the deficit down to 70-64.
 
The Panthers would close out their road win at the free-throw line, where they shot a robust 22-of-25 for the game. Kane Williams, who scored 19 points, was 13-of-14 from the line.
 
Up next: A three-game conference road swing begins at Troy on Thursday, Feb. 13. ULM will then visit South Alabama (Saturday, Feb. 15) and Arkansas State (Wednesday, Feb. 19) before returning home on Saturday, Feb. 22 to play host to Louisiana Lafayette.
  
Tail feathers: With 11 combined points, Olonade (6 points) and Ertel (5) accounted for all of the Warhawks' scoring in the first 8:42 of the game. … Ertel has reached double figures in scoring in 21 of ULM's 23 games … GSU was 1-for-11 from the field to close out the first half. … ULM football coach Matt Viator was the halftime guest on the ESPN+ broadcast.  … Guard Jalen Hodge missed his second-straight game after suffering a hyperextended knee at UT Arlington on Feb. 1.  … Georgia State leads the all-time series, 10-8, after the win. 
 
 
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