HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss scored the final six points of the first half and then opened the second half with a 12-3 run to reclaim the lead for good, as the Sun Belt Conference-leading Golden Eagles held off ULM, 76-67, Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum.
 
With the win, Southern Miss (23-4 overall, 12-2 SBC) moved to 14-0 at home this season and a two-game lead in the SBC standings with four games to play after Troy defeated the Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday evening. ULM (11-16, 7-7) dropped into a three-way tie for seventh place with the loss.
 
"We played really hard in this game," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "We played hard for 40 minutes. Unfortunately, to win, we needed this game to be in the 60s. We got a little sped up there in the second half and it cost us. We had some turnovers that led to dunks on the other end, which got the crowd into it."
 
ULM held USM scoreless for six minutes and 20 seconds late in the first half as the Warhawks went on a 12-0 run to claim the lead. Thomas Howell tied the game at 23 with a layup before two free throws by Savion Gallion put ULM up, 25-23, with 7:42 left in the half. Tyreke Locure took advantage of a pair of turnovers to push the lead to six, 29-23, and a putback by Victor Bafutto stretched the lead to eight, 31-23, with 2:56 left before halftime. USM ended its skid with a layup by Neftali Alvarez at the 2:11 mark before Jamari Blackmon used two free throws to extend the lead back to eight, 33-25.
 
USM then scored the final six points of the half, and added the exclamation point to close the half as DeAndre Pinckney blocked Locure's shot in the lane, USM's Austin Crowley grabbed the rebound and sprinted down the floor, finding Pinckney in the lane for the dunk as the first half expired, getting the Golden Eagles within two at halftime, 33-31.
 
After Howell drained a 3-pointer to open the second half, the surge resumed for USM. Mo Arnold answered with back-to-back treys to put USM on top for good, 37-36, with 17:50 left. Felipe Haase completed a 4-point play and Pinckney added a putback dunk to finish the 12-0 run with USM up, 43-36, with 15:41 left. A 3-pointer by Locure stopped the bleeding for a moment for ULM, getting within four, 43-39, but it's as close as the Warhawks would get.
 
"It just took that span, whatever it was, maybe five minutes or so, to flip the game and then we got it back and settled down again where we needed it," Richard said. "It's tough to do that in here for 40 minutes."
 
Another dunk by Pinckney stretched the USM lead to 10, 51-41, with 13:08 remaining. The Golden Eagles never led by more than 11 down the stretch, but ULM could get no closer than five, at 58-53, on a jumper by Blackmon with 7:50 remaining.
 
Locure led all scorers with 24 points for ULM, while Blackmon added 14. Bafutto had nine points and eight rebounds while Howell had seven points and 10 rebounds. Haase led USM with 23 points, while Pinckney added 17 and Denijay Harris had 12.
 
 
"The first half was good," Richard said. "We just didn't put 40 minutes of smart play together. I'd say it was 35 minutes of good, smart play on the road trying to beat this team, which hasn't lost here."
 
Southern Miss shot 48% (26-of-54) from the field, 35% (7-of-20) from the 3-point line and 74% (17-of-23) from the free-throw line. ULM shot 37% (22-of-59) from the floor, 39% (9-of-23) from the 3-point line and 93% (14-of-15) at the free-throw line. ULM outrebounded USM, 38-32, and had 10 offensive rebounds while limiting the Golden Eagles to four offensive rebounds.
 
ULM continues a three-game road swing at 7 p.m. Thursday against the Ragin' Cajuns in Lafayette.