Andre Jones open floor vs Champion Christian 2021
Siddharth Gaulee/ULM Photo Services
59
Champion Chris. CC 0-4
114
Winner La.-Monroe ULM 1-2,0-0 Sun Belt
Champion Chris. CC
0-4
59
Final
114
La.-Monroe ULM
1-2,0-0 Sun Belt
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Champion Chris. CC 28 31 59
La.-Monroe ULM 60 54 114

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM Dominates Champion Christian in Home Opener, 114-59

Andre Jones scores 17 as six Warhawks post double-figure point totals.

MONROE, La. – ULM (1-0) topped Champion Christian, 114-59, in the 2021-22 home opener at Fant-Ewing Coliseum Tuesday night. Six Warhawks scored in double figures as ULM posted its eighth-highest point total and tied the fourth-largest margin of victory in program history. Graduate guard Andre Jones had 17 points, his highest total at ULM, connecting on eight of his 12 field-goal attempts.
 
The Warhawks put together a complete game, sharing the ball with 22 assists and dominating on the boards with a 51-33 advantage. ULM also capitalized with 39 points off 25 Tiger turnovers as the Warhawks picked up 18 steals. ULM kept within range of a 60-percent field-goal shooting most of the second half and finished the game at 54 percent. Tuesday's win was the 83rd time the Warhawks reached 100 points.
 
"We needed a feel-good game after last week at LSU and Auburn and it was a feel-good game," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "We did a lot of good things out there, flying around the floor defensively, and shared the ball to one another. It was important for some guys to see the ball go in the hole, and that confidence building, positive play on the things we have been working on, we're trying to take a page from the Auburn first half and fit it into our next game. I like the way it all went tonight."
 
Additional energy from the bench produced a 17-0 run over three minutes that allowed ULM to extend its nine-point lead at 22-13 to 39-13. A basket by Ariyon Williams gave Champion Christian its only points over a five-minute stretch that before the Warhawks scored the next 10 points. That 27-2 run in the first half helped ULM to a comfortable 60-28 score going into the locker room.
 
"We subbed in Trey Boston, Koreem Ozier, Langston Powell and Nika, those four guys, along with Elijah Gonzales, really turned that thing," Richard said about the 27-2 run in the first half. "The intensity on defense picked up immediately. That's the kind of activity we were looking for. That really set the tone for the rest of the game. We were able to accomplish a lot and look at a lot of things in this game. "
 
ULM stayed focused in the second half and answered the first Tiger basket of the second half with a 20-5 scoring run for an 82-35 lead. Ten different Warhawks scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half and ULM cruised the rest of the way, leading by as many as 59 points.
 
Sophomore guard Trey Boston and graduate guard Reginald Gee 16 scored points each with Boston knocking in three 3-pointers in the first period. Gee scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, and collecting seven rebounds in the game.
 
Junior guard Langston Powell had 14 points in 12 minutes of action and shared the team-high assists total (4) with Boston. Junior guard Koreem Ozier dropped in three treys and had 13 points on the night as well three steals and a team-best two blocked shots.
 
Junior guard Elijah Gonzales sparked the Warhawks with his defensive play and tied his career high in assists with five, the second-highest single-game total in the Sun Belt so far this season. Gonzales plucked three of his steals and scored five points in the Warhawks' 27-2 first-half run and finished the night seven points and five rebounds, his top total in a Warhawk uniform and one shy of his career best. Junior walk-on Justin Gibson, who first joined the team as a team manager two years ago, scored his first career points as a Warhawk and added two rebounds and an assist to his stat line.
 
In the frontcourt, freshman forward Thomas Howell had the top rebound total for the first time for the Warhawks with a career-best eight. Sophomore forward Nika Metskhvarisvili went 3-for-3 from the field for six points to along with two assists and two steals. Red-shirt sophomore Luke Phillips's stat line had six points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
 
Champion Christian's leading scorer Braylon Hawkins had the game-high with 19 points while Malik Laurent was the game's top rebounder with nine.
 
The Warhawks play next in the Lanky Wells Classic on Monday, Nov. 22 with a 2 p.m. tipoff against Northwestern State in Ruston, Louisiana.
 
 
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