SAN MARCOS, Texas – Thomas Howell hit the go-ahead layup with 3:53 to play, while Savion Gallion, Jamari Blackmon and Tyreke Locure each hit key free throws down the stretch and Victor Bafutto snagged two clutch offensive rebounds in the final 23 seconds as ULM knocked off two-time defending Sun Belt Conference regular-season champion Texas State, 57-53, Thursday night at Strahan Arena in the SBC opener for both teams.
 
"I'm really proud of the players tonight," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "Not because it was pretty play out there. It wasn't. It was a really gritty win by our team when things were stacked against us. They found a way to win. That's how you got to win sometimes in basketball, is that you just find a way. It's not picture perfect, but our effort was."
 
Locure led ULM with 12 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes. Bafutto had his first double-double as a Warhawk with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go with four blocks in 37 minutes. Blackmon added 11 points with four rebounds in 37 minutes, and Howell had eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds in 37 minutes. Gallion came off the bench for nine points.
 
"I thought Victor was critical with some rebounding and blocked shots," Richard said.
 
Mason Harrell led Texas State with 14 points while Dylan Dawson added 11 points.
 
Harrell entered the game averaging over 18 points per game to rank fourth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring. Richard credited Blackmon's defensive effort on Harrell as a difference maker.
 
"He had 14, but it's the hardest 14 he's gotten in a while," Richard said. "Jamari really guarded him and made it tough on him. Jamari did a tremendous job."
 
ULM led 32-25 at halftime, but Texas State opened the second half with a 12-0 run to go up 37-32 with 14:34 remaining.
 
The Warhawks finally ended the drought on Locure's jumper with 14:08 to play, cutting the gap to 37-34. Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way as both sides struggled from the field. ULM shot just 23% (6-of-26) in the second half, including 1-of-6 from 3-point range, while Texas State shot 29% (8-of-28) from the field and 10% (1-of-1) from beyond the arc.
 
Bafutto knocked down a jumper to bring ULM within a pair, 38-36, with 13:18 left. Neither team scored for two minutes before Bafutto hit one-of-two free throws to close the gap to one, 38-37. A free throw by Blackmon tied the game at 38 with 10:44 left.
 
Texas State used free throws by Davion Coleman and Harrell to regain a four-point lead, 42-38, with 9:48 to go. Despite multiple chances, ULM was unable to tie the game back up until Gallion hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 5:05 to play to knot the game at 46.
 
Free throws by Locure put ULM up 48-46 before Nighael Ceaser's jumper in the lane tied the game at 48 with 4:13 left.
 
On the next possession, Howell answered for ULM, knocking down the go-ahead layup off an assist from Locure as the Warhawks claimed the lead for the final time on the night, 50-48, with 3:53 to go.
 
ULM stretched the lead to four, 54-50, on free throws by Blackmon with 1:42 remaining. However, Texas State's Harrell completed a traditional three-point play to bring the Bobcats within one, 54-53, with just 1:30 left.
 
The Bobcats had a chance to tie or take the lead moments later, but Ceaser, who had missed just two free throws in his first five-plus games to that point, missed a pair from the charity stripe with 53 seconds left.
 
ULM worked the clock on the ensuing possession. With the shot clock winding down, Gallion missed a jumper, but Bafutto secured the offensive rebound and kicked the ball back outside, where Gallion was fouled with 13 seconds left. Gallion hit one-of-two free throws, missing the second. Bafutto picked up another offensive rebound and tossed it out to the guards once again, where Locure was fouled and hit two free throws to push the lead to two possessions, 57-53, with nine seconds remaining.
 
Ceaser missed two shots on the final possession, as ULM celebrated a road victory to start conference play.
 
With as ugly as the second half was, ULM played perhaps its best half of the season in the first half. The Warhawks scored the first seven points of the game on a jumper by Blackmon and followed it up with a 3-pointer by Powell and a layup by Bafutto for the 7-0 lead with 16:57 to go before halftime.
 
ULM led by as much as eight, 10-2, on a traditional three-point play by Locure with 15:54 to go.
 
The Warhawks led 20-15 on a 3-pointer by Blackmon with 9:23 left in the half, before Texas State tied the game at 20 on a trey by Dawson and a jumper by Harrell. Bafutto answered back with a layup, but Texas State claimed the lead moments later when Coleman made a free throw and Tyrel Morgan hit a layup to give the Bobcats a 23-22 lead with 5:04 to go in the half.
 
ULM quickly regained the lead on the next possession with two free throws by Devon Hancock. Bafutto sank two more free throws for the 26-23 lead. After Texas State cut the lead to one, 26-25, on a jumper by Dawson, the Warhawks held Texas State off the board for the final 3:16 of the half, scoring the final six points of the half to take a 32-25 lead to the locker room.
 
"I told the coaches in the locker room at half, that was the best half we've played all year," Richard said. "We didn't make every shot, but we had a good look about us, even when we didn't make shots. We were moving the ball and we were playing the defense that we wanted to play."
 
ULM shot 29% (15-of-51) for the game and 29% (4-of-14) from 3-point range. The Warhawks hit 74% (23-of-31) from the free-throw line. Texas State shot 30% (17-of-56) from the field and 21% (4-of-19) from beyond the arc while hitting 79% (15-of-19) from the free-throw line. The two teams each had 37 rebounds. ULM limited Texas State to just three assists and 12 turnovers while the Warhawks had eight assists and nine turnovers.
 
ULM continues the conference-opening road trip at 2 p.m. Saturday at Arkansas State.