Koreem Ozier 3-pointer at Georgia Southern 2022
Luke Richard/ULM Athletics
75
La.-Monroe ULM 13-17,5-13 Sun Belt
81
Winner Ga. Southern GS 12-15,5-11 Sun Belt
La.-Monroe ULM
13-17,5-13 Sun Belt
75
Final
81
Ga. Southern GS
12-15,5-11 Sun Belt
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
La.-Monroe ULM 31 39 5 75
Ga. Southern GS 38 32 11 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

ULM Drops Regular-Season Finale at Georgia Southern in OT, 81-75

STATESBORO, Ga. – Kamari Brown scored a career-high 22 points in his final game in Hanner Fieldhouse, including his team's last eight in regulation, as Georgia Southern outlasted ULM in overtime, 81-75, Friday night in the Sun Belt Conference regular-season finale for both teams.
 
Brown's 17-foot jumper from the right corner with 2.7 seconds left in the second half sent the game into overtime at 70-all, and his 3-pointer from the left baseline with 2:48 to play in the extra period gave the Eagles the lead for good at 76-73.
 
The tightly contest game featured 13 lead changes and 10 ties, including seven lead changes and six ties in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The teams were never separated by more than three points for nearly 11 minutes. Langston Powell connected on a left-handed runner while crossing the lane to give ULM a 19-18 lead with 10:17 left in the first half. Georgia Southern (12-15, 5-11 Sun Belt) put together a 9-2 run and took a 27-21 lead on Andrei Savrasov's right-handed hook shot from the lane with 6:34 remaining. Elijah Gonzales' pull-up 3-pointer in transition from the top of the circle sparked a 9-3 spurt as the Warhawks rallied to tie the score at 30-all on Thomas Howell's 15-foot jumper from the right baseline with 3:56 on the clock. The Eagles outscored ULM (13-17, 5-13), 8-1, over the final 3:25 to take a 38-31 advantage into the intermission. The Warhawks misfired on their last four field-goal attempts and committed two turnovers while hitting 1-of-2 free throws during that stretch.
 
Koreem Ozier's tip-in, off a missed jumper by Andre Jones, fueled a 10-2 run as ULM grabbed a 46-43 lead on Russell Harrison's turnaround jumper from the right elbow with 12:31 to play in the second half. Georgia Southern answered with a 14-5 spurt and built a 57-51 lead as Gedi Jouzapaitis banked in a 3 from the left wing with 9:04 on the clock. Ozier scored ULM's next nine points, hitting two free throws, a deep 3-pointer from the left wing, a scoop shot from inside the lane and another pair of free throws, as the Warhawks regained the lead at 60-57 with 6:12 left. Gonzales connected on a pair of free throws to give ULM its largest lead at 65-60 with 3:37 remaining. The Warhawks lost two key players to fouls in the closing minutes as Ozier was disqualified with 2:03 to go and Jones followed at the 1:36 mark. With 15.8 seconds on the clock, Brown hit a pair of free throws to tie the score at 68-all. Gonzales converted 1-of-2 free-throw attempts to give ULM a 70-68 edge with 10.7 seconds left, setting the stage for Brown's game-tying jumper from the right baseline. A desperation 3 from midcourt by Gonzales bounced off the back of the iron at the buzzer.
 
"We had a five-point lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in the second half, but we didn't hold them off," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "We needed one more basket, one more box out, hit one more free throw or come up with one more stop. We needed to make a play inside the final two minutes, then ran out of gas in overtime. We simply didn't get the job done down the stretch in regulation. So, it goes down as another hard-fought loss.
 
"We have close final margins all across this league. I can think of another five games just like tonight where we're trying to hold a team off and protect a lead late or we're battling to catch up and finish with a win at the wire. We just didn't get it done tonight. The guys have competed like this all season. They're exhausted in the locker room, and unfortunately, we don't have a lot of wins to show for their efforts this season."
 
Harrison buried a deep 3-pointer from straightaway as ULM opened the extra period with a 73-70 lead at the 4:38 mark. Georgia Southern reeled off the next 11 points to seize control at 81-73. The Warhawks went without a field goal for more than 4 1/2 minutes, missing seven consecutive shots, before Powell scored on a layup with 6 seconds on the clock. The Eagles maintained their lead in overtime, despite hitting just 6-of-10 free-throw attempts.
 
Georgia Southern hit 26-of-60 field-goal attempts (43 percent), including 7-of-26 from behind the 3-point arc (27 percent). By comparison, ULM shot just 36 percent (26-of-73) from the floor, including 29 percent from 3-point range (7-of-24). The Warhawks went 14-of-43 (33 percent) from the field over the final 25 minutes, including 3-of-14 3s (21 percent).
 
ULM held an advantage over the Eagles in points in the paint, 34-26; second-chance points, 15-9; and fast-break points, 9-6. Georgia Southern's bench outscored Warhawk reserves by 35 points, 50-15.
 
Brown, who made 6-of-10 field-goal and 9-of-11 free-throw attempts, scored 18 second-half points, including five in the extra period.
 
Four other Georgia Southern players scored in double figures, including Jouzapaitis who hit a season-high five 3-pointers for 15 points, followed by 13 from Kaden Archie, 11 from Savrasov and 10 from Elijah McCadden.
 
Ozier, who recorded his first career double-double to pace the Warhawks, finished with a season-high 23 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. He hit 8-of-16 shots from the floor, including 3-of-6 3s, and all four of his free-throw attempts.
 
"Koreem Ozier played great on both ends of the floor," Richard said. "It sure was a shame he fouled out with two minutes to play in the second half because we sure needed him late in the game."
 
The Warhawks also got 16 points from Harrison, who netted 10 of those after the halftime intermission, and 10 from Powell, who reached double figures in scoring for the first time in 18 games.
 
"Before the game, we talked about the importance of playing well tonight before heading into next week's Sun Belt Conference Championship," Richard said. "We talked about the run App State made as the No. 4 seed in the East all the way to the league title. We'll get over tonight's disappointment and focus on bouncing back at the conference tournament."
 
No. 11-seed ULM will face No. 6-seed Arkansas State in the first round of the 2022 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Championship on Thursday, March 3 at 5 p.m. CT in Pensacola, Fla. The Warhawks and Red Wolves split the regular-season series, with each team winning on the opponent's home court. A-State won the first meeting in Fant-Ewing Coliseum, 90-83, on Jan. 8 while ULM rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit for a 60-59 victory at First National Bank Arena on Feb. 3.
 
 
Print Friendly Version