MONROE, La. – A 3-pointer by Tyreke Locure at the buzzer came up short, as ULM rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final minute to have a chance on the final possession, but ultimately lost the regular-season finale to Arkansas State, 64-61, Friday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
"It's been a struggle offensively all year," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "We've had our moments where some teams kind of let us shoot a bunch of threes. But we've been a struggle offensively a lot this year, and tonight was no different."
 
Locure scored a game-high 24 points in the loss, while Thomas Howell added a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds for ULM (11-20 overall, 7-11 Sun Belt Conference). Caleb Fields paced Arkansas State (12-19, 4-14) with 15 points, while Terrance Ford Jr. and Omar El-Sheikh added 13 points apiece and Izaiyah Nelson had 10.
 
ULM led by seven, 18-11, with 9:13 left in the first half after Locure finished a 4-point play. A-State quickly closed the gap to one, 21-20, on a 3-pointer by Fields. After extending the lead back to three, 25-22, on Devon Hancock's jumper, the Red Wolves surged into the lead, 26-25, after two free throws by Ford and a layup by Fields. The Warhawks answered with the final four points of the first half, all from Thomas Howell, as he knocked down a buzzer-beating putback to send ULM to the locker room up three, 29-26.
 
The Warhawks pushed the lead out to seven, 35-28, on a layup by Victor Bafutto with 17:23 left. ULM then went without a field goal for the next 10 minutes and three seconds, as A-State built an eight-point lead, 48-40. A jumper in the paint by Savion Gallion broke ULM's drought and got the Warhawks within six, 48-42, with 7:20 left. Gallion hit his next two shots to flip the script for ULM, as the Warhawks tied the game at 53 on a 3-pointer by Langston Powell with 3:40 left. A-State came back with the next seven points to claim a 60-53 lead with 1:12 to go. In the final minute, a turnover and missed free throws gave ULM a chance. After getting back within three, 64-61, with nine seconds left, ULM sent Avery Felts to the line. He missed the first free-throw in the bonus, and Howell grabbed the rebound, getting the outlet pass away to Locure. However, Locure's heave at the buzzer fell short as A-State held on for the 64-61 win.
 
"You can't hold other teams scoreless," Richard said. "You got to be able to put some scoring together along with your hard, gritty play on defense. These scoring droughts are just disastrous for us. It's spread all around. The story is out on how to guard us, and its to pay a lot of attention to Jamari and Tyreke, double them if you have to, and really try to let you see if the other guys can score or not. It just becomes a struggle when Jamari or Tyreke can't get loose."
 
ULM shot 36% (21-of-58) from the field, 36% (9-of-25) from the 3-point line and made 10-of-16 (63%) of its free throws. A-State shot 46% (23-of-50) from the floor, 28% (5-of-18) from the 3-point line and made 13-of-15 (86.7%) free-throw attempts. A-State outrebounded ULM, 37-32, while the Warhawks had 10 offensive rebounds.
 
Prior to the game, ULM honored senior players Victor Bafutto, Jamari Blackmon and Langston Powell ahead of their final home game.
ULM is the No. 10 seed for the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Championship and will face No. 7 seed Georgia Southern in the second round at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida. The Warhawks defeated Georgia Southern in Statesboro, 72-59, on Jan. 19.