MONROE, La. – Jacksonville used an 18-0 first half run to claim and expand the lead, and then held off several ULM charges in the second half to pick up a 66-55 win over the Warhawks Tuesday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
The Warhawks (4-9) were scoreless for 8:24 during the run, which saw them go from leading 11-5 to trailing 23-11 with 3:55 left in the half. Victor Bafutto's layup at the 3:25 mark ended the drought and cut the gap to 23-13.
 
"That stretch of offense in the first half was just terrible," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "We really struggled, maybe as much as we have all year. Obviously, it was much better in the second half as we went more with the four-guard lineup. But then, we couldn't get enough stops against them to really catch them."
 
JU extended the lead out to as much as 14 at 29-15, but a layup by Thomas Howell with 22 seconds left brought ULM within 12 at halftime, 29-17.
 
"The first half, we played pretty decent defensively," Richard said. "It was a really tough stretch in the first half. Obviously, everybody was frustrated. But we went in at halftime and regrouped, talked about our offense and we made a little change. That's something we wanted to do, and it flowed a lot better."
 
The Warhawks made several attempts to get closer to the Dolphins in the second half, but Jacksonville had an answer at every turn.
 
A jumper by Savion Gallion and a fast break layup by Tyreke Locure brought ULM within nine, 32-23, with 17:18 remaining. JU responded with an 8-1 run, going ahead by 16, 40-24, on a 3-pointer by Dylan O'Hearn with 14:16 to go.
 
ULM pulled back within 10 again on the back of a 6-0 run, with Locure knocking down a 3-pointer and hitting a layup before a free throw by Thomas Howell cut the margin to 45-35 with 9:55 left. JU again pushed the lead back to 13 before the Warhawks crawled back within 10 again at 52-42 on Jamari Blackmon's 3-pointer with 7:01 on the clock.
 
Again, JU stopped the push, but only extended the lead back to 13, 57-44, with 5:03 to play on Jordan Davis' jumper.
 
ULM made its best charge in one possession. Langston Powell put up seven points in one trip down the floor, starting with a tomahawk dunk on a fast break. He drew a foul on the play, which upon review, was upgraded to a flagrant foul. Powell then converted both free throws. On the inbounds play following the flagrant foul free throws, Powell knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner to give him a personal 7-0 run in 12 seconds of game time, pulling ULM within six, 57-51, with 2:59 remaining.
 
"Langston is real comfortable in his own skin right now and his role on the team," Richard said. "He takes what the defense gives him. What I like about Langston is whatever I ask him or our team needs him to do, he tries to do it to the best of his ability, and he had a great stretch right there."
 
JU had another answer. On the next possession, Kevion Nolan buried a 3-pointer to extend the lead to nine, 60-51. ULM pulled within seven twice, but the Dolphins never let the Warhawks any closer.
 
Howell led ULM with 12 points and five rebounds. Gallion added 11 points and Tyreke Locure had 10 points. Nolan led JU with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Osayi Osifo had 11 points and eight rebounds and Gyasi Powell and Dylan O'Hearn had 10 points each.
 
ULM struggled from the field, shooting 34% (19-of-56) from the floor and 20% (5-of-25) from 3-point range while hitting 75% (12-of-16) from the free-throw line. JU shot 43% (24-of-56) from the field and 31% (9-of-29) from 3-point range while sinking 9-of-10 free-throw attempts.
 
ULM begins Sun Belt Conference play at 7 p.m. Dec. 29 at Texas State.