TIP-OFF

The ULM men's basketball team (3-7) is back in action after a nine-day break to host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Wednesday (Dec. 11) at 6:30 p.m. from Fantg-Ewing Coliseum.

SERIES HISTORY –

The Warhawks and Golden Lions will clash for the first time in history on the hardwood Wednesday night.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN LIONS –

UAPB ended a seven-game losing streak on Saturday with an 84-78 home victory over in-state foe Central Arkansas. In the win, the Golden Lions had two players score above 20 points, led by Charleston Southern transfer Quentin Bolton with 22 points and Caleb Jones with 20.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff features a balanced scoring attack, as the Golden Lions enter Wednesday's game ranked in the top 50 with an average of 31.3 bench points per game. Leading the Golden Lions in scoring this season is North Idaho Community College transfer guard Dante Sawyer with 11.9 points per game. North Texas transfer Christian Moore has averaged 11.8 points per game in eight games for UAPB and ranks third in the SWAC with 4.5 assists per game. Forward Robert Lewis paces the Golden Lions with a 6.3 rebounds per game average and has made a team-high seven blocks.

The Golden Lions are led by Solomon Bozeman in his fourth season at the helm of the program. Bozeman was previously an assistant coach at Oral Roberts and was on the coaching staff of the Golden Eagles' team that reached the Sweet 16 in 2021.

RICHARD IN CHARGE–

The 2024-25 season marks the 15th year of Keith Richard leading ULM men's basketball and his 24th season overall as a head coach. Richard inherited a program saddled with APR sanctions and guided the Warhawks to four postseason appearances in five years. Richard's historic turnaround of the ULM program began in 2014-15, which was his first season without APR sanctions. Richard previously served as the head coach of Louisiana Tech from 1998-2007 and was an assistant at LSU from 2008-10 before being named ULM's head coach.

FAMILIAR FACES –

The Warhawks welcome back 10 players from the 2023-24 roster including starters Tyreese Watson, Jalen Bolden and Jerry Ngopot. Key role players including Jacob Wilson, Makai Willis, AD Diedhiou and P.D. McCraney are also back after playing in more than 10 games last season.

KEY ADDITIONS –

The 2024 ULM men's basketball signing class featured four new Warhawks to the 2024-25 roster. ULM signed two high school prospects (Micah Caster & Renars Sondors), one four-year transfer  (Coltie Young) and one junior college transfer (Ta'Zir Smith) in the 2024 class. Additionaly, Phil Cunningham was introduced as an assistant head coach during the offseason. Cunningham brings over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience at the Division I level.

BOLDEN'S CAREER NIGHT –

Junior guard Jalen Bolden shined for ULM on Wednesday night at LSU after dropping a career-high 25 points. Playing 30 minutes away from his hometown of Zachary, Louisiana, Bolden scored 14 points in the first half and 11 down the stretch in his career performance. Bolden's three-point shot at the buzzer in the first half was also featured on Sportscenter's Top 10 plays.

DIAPER DANDY –

True freshman Renars Sondors is the first ULM men's basketball player since 2015 to reach double figures in three of his first five games. The last Warhawk to do so was Travis Munnings when he netted double figures in four consecutive games.

LOOKING AHEAD –

The Warhawks will complete their home-and-home series with UT Arlington on Saturday (Dec. 14) afternoon in Arlington at 2 p.m.