MONROE, La. – The ULM men's basketball team (3-6) closed the gap to one point with less than three minutes to go, but Stephen F. Austin (5-3) held ULM to two points and scored eight in the final minutes to win 68-60 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Friday (Nov. 29) night.
 
SFA's Matt Hayman of scored 27 points, 21 in the second half, and knocked in five threes to lead the Lumberjacks to victory. ULM was held to 2-for-13 from beyond the arc on the night.
 
Three Warhawks finished in double figures. Jalen Bolden scored 15 points and pulled down five rebounds to go along with four assists. Tyreese Watson scored 14 and distributed a trio of assists. Makai Willis rounded out the double figure scorers with 13 points and added four boards and two steals.
 
Both teams traded points in the paint to start the game before Jalen Bolden took a second-chance jumper to give ULM the early lead. SFA gained three points from an and-one to give it the lead with 15:30 left in the first half.
 
A 6-2 run for the Warhawks that concluded with an impressive layup by Jacob Wilson, produced a 10-7 lead for the Warhawks. The Lumberjacks responded with a Dominic Pangonis three-pointer to tie the game. SFA added four more in a row to build a four-point lead.
 
A layup and jump shot by Willis evened the score at 14-14 with 11:22 remaining in the half. After three-pointers from both teams, Coltie Young drove in a layup on a fastbreak to put the Warhawks back on top.
 
With 6:44 on the clock, the Jacks made it a 19-19 game with a pullup jumper before Jerry Ngopot put in a second-chance layup. SFA made a layup right as the shot clock expired to tie the contest once more.
 
A jumper and a dunk by the Lumberjacks gave them another four-point lead. A driving layup by Bolden and two free throws by Watson set the score at 25 each. Keith Lamar of the Jacks scored a three to give SFA the lead back.
 
With SFA trying to drain the clock at the end of the half, Bolden forced a turnover and took it the other way for a layup to pull the Warhawks within one possession at the half.
 
SFA scored two baskets to start the second half to build its largest lead of the game at 34-27. The Warhawks scored a layup and a free throw to put the deficit back to four. SFA pushed the lead back to seven by scoring four of the ensuing six points.
 
With two consecutive layups, the Jacks increased the lead to nine. Three points from Watson and a jumper from Bolden closed the gap to four with 13:21 to play.
 
Two more free throws by Watson and a pullup jumper by Young tied the game and capped off a 9-0 run for ULM with 11:45 to play.
 
With a 47-46 Warhawk lead, Hayman sunk a three to give the Lumberjacks the lead. In response, AD Diedhiou slammed down a dunk to tie the game at 49-49.
 
With a 51-51 score, Hayman drilled two more threes for the Jacks to give them a six-point lead with 6:37 to go. Young gave ULM back a three before Hayman produced a fourth consecutive three-pointer to set the lead back to six.
 
Two free throws by Watson put it at a one-possession game at 60-57. He added another pair of points to force a one-point game with 2:49 left. SFA, missing their second free throw, got the rebound and passed it to Hayman, who drilled his fifth three-pointer to give the Lumberjacks a five-point lead.
 
A layup finished a 7-0 scoring run for the Jacks and the lead was 67-59. The Warhawks were held to just one more point the rest of the way as SFA secured an eight-point victory.
 
ULM is back in Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Monday (Dec. 2) when the Warhawks host UT Arlington at 6:30 p.m.