Andre Jones jump shot vs Little Rock 2022
Luke Richard/ULM Athletics
75
Winner La.-Monroe ULM 12-12,4-8 Sun Belt
72
Little Rock LR 7-13,2-6 Sun Belt
Winner
La.-Monroe ULM
12-12,4-8 Sun Belt
75
Final
72
Little Rock LR
7-13,2-6 Sun Belt
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 OT 1 F
La.-Monroe ULM 31 33 11 75
Little Rock LR 30 34 8 72

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Jones Scores 30 in Homecoming; ULM Outlasts Little Rock in OT, 75-72

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Andre Jones scored a career-high 30 points in his homecoming game while leading ULM to a 75-72 overtime victory over Little Rock Saturday afternoon, as the Warhawks completed their first Sun Belt Conference road sweep since February 2018. His two free throws with 7.9 seconds left in regulation sent the game into overtime.
 
A fifth-year senior, Jones led two local Little Rock high schools, McClellan and Malvern, to state championships before spending his first two years as a collegian wearing the Trojan uniform while playing in the Jack Stephens Center. He opened ULM's two-game conference road swing with a 21-point performance in a 60-59 win at Arkansas State Thursday night.
 
"After the team celebration had calmed down, I congratulated Andre Jones on playing two great games in his home state," Richard said. "Andre played his best two games of the season on this road trip. Despite playing our second game in three days, he still played with tremendous energy.
 
"Out of that last timeout with 14 seconds left, we wanted to get the ball in his hands because we knew he could beat somebody off the dribble and get to the rim. Andre did exactly that and knocked down a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to send the game into overtime. He made a lot of big baskets and free throws when the game was on the line."
 
It marked ULM's first Sun Belt road sweep since February 2018 when the Warhawks produced a pair of overtime victories at Georgia Southern (66-64) and Georgia State (90-82).
 
There were 15 ties and 18 lead changes in this highly entertaining matinee.
 
Koreem Ozier connected on two, deep 3-pointers and Jones scored on a drive to the basket as ULM took an early 8-5 lead with 16:07 left in the first half. Little Rock responded with a 7-0 run and grabbed a 12-8 lead as Jordan Jefferson hit a floater from the right side of the lane with 13:39 on the clock. The Warhawks reeled off seven-straight points and built a 17-14 advantage as Ozier buried another 3 from the top of the circle with 7:49 remaining. The Trojans got an 18-foot jumper from Isaiah Palermo and a 3-pointer from Myron Gardner as Little Rock built its largest lead at 26-21 with 3:52 to play in the opening half. ULM outscored the Trojans, 10-4, over the final 3:24 and carried a 31-30 lead into the intermission.
 
Ozier (12 points) and Jones (9) combined to account for 21 of ULM's 31 first-half points.
 
Jones hit a 3 from the left corner, off a cross-court pass from Ozier, and Ozier followed with a pull-up jumper from the left elbow as ULM (12-12, 4-8 Sun Belt) took its biggest lead at 36-32 at the 18:22 mark in the second half. Little Rock (7-13, 2-6) put together another 7-0 spurt and moved out to a 41-37 advantage on Jefferson's triple from the left corner with 15:04 left. Midway through the second half, Ozier hit a pair of free throws, Jones turned a steal into a dunk and Nika Metskhvarishvili made a layup, off a nifty feed from Russell Harrison, as the Warhawks regained the lead at 53-51 with 7:49 to play. Metskhvarishvili's traditional three-point play gave ULM a 56-54 edge with 6:49 on the clock, but the Trojans countered with a 9-2 run and matched their largest lead at 63-58 on Palermo's 3-pointer from the left wing with 4:30 remaining in regulation. Jones scored on a runner from the left side of the lane and Thomas Howell followed with a layup, off a pass from Elijah Gonzalez, as the Warhawks pulled to within one at 63-62 with 58 seconds left. Jefferson hit the first of two free throws – Little Rock's first point in 4:10 – for a 64-62 lead with 20 seconds to go. Jones calmly converted two free throws with 7.9 seconds to tie the score at 64-all.
 
"We were down five points with 4 1/2 minutes left, but our guys didn't panic," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "We just wanted to find a way to get the game into overtime. We really had a difficult time defending Little Rock, but fortunately, we did a lot of good things in the late-game situations."
 
"I had missed a free throw early in the second half, and I normally recover from that pretty quick and lock in for the rest of the game," Jones said. "We all felt like if we could get the game into overtime, we'd find a way to pull out another win."
 
ULM scored first in overtime as Metskhvarishvili hit a pair of free throws for a 66-64 lead. CJ White's three-point play put the Trojans back on top, 67-66. The Warhawks retook the lead at 68-67 on a pair of free throws by Jones, but Jefferson delivered a 3 from the right wing as Little Rock grabbed a 70-68 advantage with 2:59 on the clock. Howell drove the right side of the lane of a layup and Jones scored on a layup, off an incredible pass from Metskhvarishvili, as ULM claimed a 72-70 lead with 1:40 left. The Trojans pulled even one last time at 72-all as Palermo made two foul shots. The Warhawks closed out the win by converting 3-of-4 free-throw attempts in the final 18 seconds, with Johnnie Williams hitting 1-of-2 and Harrison both attempts. ULM held Little Rock without a field goal over the last 2:59 in overtime.
 
The Warhawks held a decided advantage in points in the paint, 32-16; fast-break points, 21-0; and bench points, 10-2. Little Rock outrebounded ULM, 34-26, but only managed to score eight points off nine offensive rebounds.
 
Jones, who played in front of nearly 20 family members and friends, connected on 10-of-17 field-goal attempts, including 3-of-5 3-pointers, and 7-of-8 free throws. He scored 17 of his 30 points after the intermission. Jones, who has scored in double figures in nine-straight games, also collected four assists.
 
"Despite playing on Thursday, my body felt really good heading into today's game," Jones said. "As a team, we just tried to stay locked in, offensively and defensively. We showed some maturity in these two road wins. We're beginning to figure things out. We don't panic when we're behind. We stayed together and focused on chipping away at the deficit. So, we're beginning to find ways to way win games. It doesn't matter if it's pretty or not; the bottom line is the final result."
 
ULM also got 16 points, four rebounds and three steals from Ozier, who fouled out with 5:13 left in the second half.
 
"Koreem Ozier played really good in the first half," Richard said. "Koreem and Andre carried our offense in the first 20 minutes. Things went a little sideways for him in the second half in terms of committing fouls."
 
Harrison, who eclipsed the 1,000-point career milestone with two technical free throws with 1:10 remaining in the opening half, finished with 11 points. He scored 395 points as a freshman at Wayland Baptist in 2016-17 and now 613 for the Warhawks.
 
Gonzales, who rejoined the team in Little Rock after missing the last two games (Georgia State and Arkansas State) with a bruised knee, came off the bench and recorded five assists and four steals in nearly 31 minutes. He also didn't commit a turnover.
 
"After the game, I also thanked Elijah for rejoining the team in Little Rock and we need him today," Richard said. "After missing the two previous games, he's as tired as he can be. I didn't plan to play him nearly this much, but he really helped us, especially in those late-game situations. Elijah controlled the offense by executing plays and distributing the basketball, but he also created some additional scoring opportunities for us with his defense. He came up with four big steals."
 
ULM closes out its regular-season home schedule with a three-game homestand, beginning Thursday, Feb. 10 against UT Arlington at 6:30 p.m., followed by Texas State on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. The Warhawks' home finale in Fant-Ewing Coliseum is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 17 against the Ragin' Cajuns at 6:30 p.m.  
 
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