Koreem Ozier layup vs Arkansas State G2 2021
72
La.-Monroe ULM 4-8,2-3 Sun Belt
74
Winner Arkansas St. ASU 4-6,1-2 Sun Belt
La.-Monroe ULM
4-8,2-3 Sun Belt
72
Final
74
Arkansas St. ASU
4-6,1-2 Sun Belt
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
La.-Monroe ULM 36 36 72
Arkansas St. ASU 40 34 74

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM Drops Heartbreaker in Series Opener at Arkansas State, 74-72

JONESBORO, Ark. – Caleb Fields and Malcolm Farrington combined for 34 points to lead Arkansas State to a 74-72 win over ULM Friday night in the opening game of a Sun Belt Conference weekend series in First National Bank Arena.
 
The start of the game was delayed 20 minutes as the arena crew worked to straighten an uneven rim at the basket nearest the ULM bench. The inauspicious beginning only served as a precursor for a heartbreaking finish for the Warhawks.
 
ULM appeared to tie the score at 74-all in the closing seconds of regulation; first on a goaltending call, then perhaps on a tip-in with 0.1 seconds left.
 
"Well, the referee did call goaltending, but there's a new NCAA rule that allows you to go back and look at the goaltending call to see if it was correct or not," Richard said. "The referee came back and said it wasn't goaltending."
 
During the trip to the replay monitor following the final horn, the officials never reviewed the tip-in because the whistle blew on the initial goaltending call. However, what went unexplained was why .6 seconds weren't added back to the clock and why ULM wasn't awarded an in-bound opportunity.
 
"I want to look at the film tonight to see the ending because our kids want to know what happened," Richard said.
 
The tightly contested game featured 10 lead changes and six ties, with neither team managing to build a double-digit margin.
 
A-State (4-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) jumped out to a 12-6 lead on a layup by Tim Holland Jr. with 16:13 remaining in the first half. ULM (4-8, 2-3) responded with a 10-2 run to take a 16-14 lead on Josh Nicholas' jumper from the left elbow with 12:51 to play in the opening half. The Warhawks got a left-handed scoop shot from Marco Morency and a 15-foot pull-up jumper from Koreem Ozier as ULM built its largest lead at 27-22 with 6:51 left. Trailing 34-30, A-State closed the first half with a 10-2 spurt and Avery Felt's 3-pointer from the left baseline sent the Red Wolves into the intermission with a 40-36 advantage.
 
Both offenses executed at a high level in the first 20 minutes. Arkansas State made 14-of-24 field-goal attempts (58 percent), including 8-of-13 3s (62 percent), while ULM shot 50 percent (16-of-32) from the floor. Caleb Fields netted 12 first-half points for the Red Wolves, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field including 2-for-2 from 3-point range. The Warhawks got 12 points each from Ozier and Chris Efretuei.
 
"The way the defenses played tonight dictated how many 3s were attempted," Richard said. "We only shot six 3s in the first half because they were switching out on us and daring us to drive the ball or throw it inside, which we did. That's why Chris Efretuei had a big first half. In our half-court offense, we drove the ball very well because there just weren't many 3s to get off in the first half.
 
"On our defensive end, they were driving us hard and we had to help so much that they got a bunch of wide open 3s. In particular, Caleb Fields was driving that thing hard to the lane, and we couldn't stay in front of him. He drove that thing into the middle of the defense and kicked it out to the shooters, and that's how they got so many good looks."
 
There were four lead changes in the first 3 1/2 minutes in the second half. Russell Harrison, who went scoreless in the first 20 minutes, scored ULM's first six points in the second half, and the Warhawks regained the lead at 44-43 on Ozier's layup with 17:17 on the clock. A-State took the lead for good a 45-44 on a pair of free throws from Fields with 16:25 remaining.
 
The Red Wolves took a five-point advantage at 66-61 on Caleb London's rebound goal with 4:04 to play. Harrison converted two free throws as ULM cut its deficit to 68-66 with 2:56 left. With 40 seconds left, A-State matched its biggest lead at 74-68 on Norchad Omier's jumper in the lane with the shot clock winding down. Elijah Gonzales hit 2-of-3 free-throw attempts and Ozier added two more points from the charity stripe as the Warhawks rallied to within 74-72 with 12 seconds remaining. Fields misfired on the front end of a one-and-one with :07 to go; Harrison collected the rebound and drove the length of the floor for a potential game-tying layup at the buzzer. He missed the lay-up attempt, but Morency's appeared to send the game into overtime with a tip-in with 0.1 seconds on the clock.
 
A-State, which managed to hit only 10-of-37 3-pointers in the two-game series in Monroe, Louisiana, connected on 11-of-24 3s Friday night. ULM went 3-of-19 from behind the 3-point arc, with its first trey falling at the 10:39 mark of the second half.
 
"As I look back through the game, we certainly played hard enough," Richard said. "We had a chance to win at the end and maybe the game should have gone into overtime. I know our team a little better now than I did earlier in the year, and we've got to be able to make some 3s to help our offense. We got more open shots from the 3-point line in the second half but went 3-for-13.
 
"In the second half, we decided to stay home a little bit more on some of those drives. They only made three 3s in the second half."
 
The Warhawks produced 18 points off A-State's 22 turnovers and outscored the Red Wolves, 42-26, in the paint. A-State outrebounded ULM, 44-30, and held a 38-12 edge in bench scoring.
 
Fields paced the Red Wolves with 19 points, hitting 5-of-8 shots for the field, including 2-of-3 3s, and 7-of-11 free throws. A-State also got 15 points from Malcolm Farrington, who made 5-of-11 3-pointers, and 10 points from London.
 
Ozier led ULM with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-4 3s, to go along with four steals. The Sacred Heart University transfer has scored in double figures in six consecutive games, averaging 15.7 points during that stretch.
 
Harrison finished with 18 points and eight rebounds while Efretuei contributed a season-high 14 points, connecting on 6-of-11 field-goal attempts.
 
"Russell Harrison played big for us in the second half," Richard said. "He was driving the ball to the rim and got some cuts to the basket as well. Russell did a good job adjusting in the second half.
 
"You have to take what the defense gives you night in and night out. I'm glad Russell found a way to get inside the defense and score in the second half. It's been a learning lesson for him. How do I score when they're extending the defense out on me? He knows how to score when they play back and provide space; he rises up and shoots it. To be a good player, you've got to be an all-around player. He had a very productive second half."
 
Friday marked A-State's first action since opening the conference schedule with a two-game series at ULM (Jan. 1-2) two weeks ago. Last weekend's series at Texas State was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns within the Bobcat program.
 
ULM will attempt to earn a split in the Sun Belt weekend series at Arkansas State on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 4 p.m.
 
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