MONROE, La. – Makai Willis scored a career-high 21 points while adding nine rebounds as five Warhawks scored in double figures to lead ULM to an 80-66 win over South Alabama Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
Willis helped spearhead a ULM (6-12 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt Conference) charge that erased a nine-point first half deficit for a 12-point halftime lead. The Warhawks led South Alabama (10-10, 3-5) by as much as 24 points in the second half.
 
Willis scored 14 of his points in the first half. Tyreke Locure added 15 points, Jacob Wilson tallied 11 points, Jerry Ngopot chipped in 10 points and Jalen Bolden had his second-straight double-double and fifth of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Tyrell Jones paced four Jaguars in double figures with 18 points. Isiah Gaiter, who entered the night ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference at 20.0 points per game in conference play, was limited to three points on 1-of-5 field-goal attempts.
 
South Alabama used a 10-0 run to take a 10-2 lead on a dunk by Thomas Howell with 16:13 left in the first half. ULM answered back with a 9-0 run to claim an 11-10 lead on back-to-back layups by Willis. USA bounced right back with a 10-2 run to go on top by nine, 24-15, on a 3-pointer by Judah Brown with 8:57 left in the first half.
 
That's when the Warhawks flipped the switch. ULM outscored South Alabama 26-5 over the remainder of the first half, including 19 of the final 21 points of the half. ULM went on a 7-0 run to get within two, 24-22, on a jumper by Locure with 7:32 to go in the half. Gaiter hit his only shot of the night, a 3-pointer, to go back up five, 27-22.
 
The Warhawks then used a 10-0 run to take the lead, going ahead for good on back-to-back buckets by Ngopot with 5:26 remaining in the half, and capping the run on a jumper by Jacob Wilson to lead by five, 32-27, at the 4:31 mark.
 
After a layup by Samuel Tabe cut the lead to three, ULM scored the final nine points of the half, with Willis scoring six of the nine points around a 3-pointer by Savion Gallion. The Warhawks led 41-29 at the break.
 
ULM continued to pour it on after halftime. After the two sides traded buckets to start the half, Willis finished a traditional 3-point play and a steal by Locure led to a layup by Bolden at the other end and a 17-point lead, 48-31, forcing a USA timeout.
 
The Jaguars cut the gap to 14, 52-38, on a 3-pointer by Jones with 15:17 left, but ULM used an 11-1 run to take its largest lead of the night at 24 points on a layup by Bolden with 10:48 to go. ULM remained in control and never led by less than 14 points the rest of the way, picking up the 80-66 win.
 
ULM shot 46% (31-of-67) from the field, 45% (5-of-11) from 3-point range and 62% (13-of-21) from the free throw line. USA hit just 33% (24-of-73) from the floor, 33% (12-of-36) from 3-point range and was 6-of-9 at the free throw line. ULM outrebounded USA, 50-39.
 
ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum at 1 p.m. Sunday to face Arkansas State.