MONROE, La. – Make it seven out of 10.
 
ULM led by two at halftime and led for much of the second half, going up by as much as 12, to pick up a 66-59 win over in-state Sun Belt Conference foe Ragin' Cajuns Thursday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Warhawks have now won seven of their last 10 games overall, dating back to a win at Old Dominion on Jan. 20.
 
"It was a gritty win," ULM head coach Keith Richard said. "I know it wasn't pretty at times, by both teams, but I'm really proud of the way our guys kind of gutted that out. It was a really, really tough, pretty physical game."
 
The Warhawks forced 15 Ragin' Cajun turnovers and limited the Sun Belt Conference's top 3-point shooting team to an 18% clip (4-of-22) from distance. The Cajuns were hitting 36.0% from the 3-point line entering the game.
 
"For them to only make four 3-pointers on the day, that's a tremendous job by our players paying attention to the scout. There were three guys that we really wanted to pay attention to, and we did a good job with that part of the equation."
 
ULM (11-15 overall, 6-9 Sun Belt Conference) was paced by Nika Metskhvarishvili with 17 points and eight rebounds. Jerry Ngopot added a career-high 15 points, with 13 in the first half, in 30 minutes of action, while Tyreese Watson chipped in 13 points, including a 7-of-9 effort from the free throw line. Jalen Bolden had seven points and 13 rebounds.
 
"The ball needed to be thrown to Jerry rolling to the basket because they were almost doubling Tyreke (Locure) on the ball," Richard said. "That's how they'd been playing us the last three times we've played them. We did hit (Ngopot) on some rolls and he scored some buckets. Then he got a little confidence. Now he's got a little jump hook going. It kind of snowballed on him, and that was really good to see."
 
The Ragin' Cajuns (17-11, 9-6) were led by 16 points and nine rebounds from Hosana Kitenge, while Brandon Hardy matched his career high with 13 points and Kobe Julien added 13 points. Joe Charles had two 3-pointers for six points and matched his career high with 16 rebounds.
 
The Cajuns opened the game with a 3-pointer by Charles, but ULM ripped off the next eight points, including a pair of layups by Metskhvarishvili, for the 8-3 lead with 16:18 left in the half.
 
The Cajuns cut the gap to three, 13-10, before going on an 8-0 run of their own to go back on top, with four points from Brandon Hardy in the sequence. ULM bounced back with the next five points on a 3-pointer by Savion Gallion and a layup by AD Diedhiou to tie the game at 18 with 9:19 to play before halftime.
 
The Cajuns regained a five-point lead, 23-18, on a 3-point play by Thomas. ULM responded with a 13-2 run, as Gallion tied the game with his second 3-pointer and Ngopot gave ULM the lead, 25-23, on a jumper. After Hardy's dunk on the fastbreak tied the game at 25, the Warhawks scored the next six points, with four from Ngopot, to regain a 31-25 edge. The Cajuns cut the gap to two at halftime, 32-30.
 
The Cajuns took an early lead in the second half, 33-32, on a 3-point play by Kentrell Garnett. ULM answered to retake the lead on the next possession on Metskhvarishvili's jumper. The Cajuns pulled within one, 38-37, on free throws by Kitenge with 15:32 left. However, the Warhawks stretched the lead out on a transition 3-pointer by Locure and a 3-pointer from the left corner with the shot clock expiring by Metskhvarishvili, sparking a 10-0 run for the 48-37 advantage with 12:34 to go.
 
The lead blossomed to 12 for the first time, 52-40, on free throws by Metskhvarishvili with 9:34 left.
 
After the two sides traded buckets for a few minutes, the Cajuns made their move late. A jumper by Julien, a steal by Kitenge and a layup by Garnett quickly pulled the Cajuns within three, 59-56, with 1:48 left. However, Metskhvarishvili made a tough layup inside on the ensuing possession to extend the lead back to five, 61-56. Watson knocked down critical free throws late to help seal the win, 66-59.
 
"I don't care how we won, really and truly," Richard said. "That's seven out of the last 10. That was the last comment I made to our players. That's seven out of the last 10. You can continue to be a good team if you want to be, if you work hard and stay the course. We'll enjoy this for tonight, but obviously we've got Troy coming in and we got to give them a little better showing than we did the last time against them."
 
ULM shot 43% (21-of-49) from the field, 29% (4-of-14) from the 3-point line and 67% (20-of-30) at the free throw line. The Cajuns shot 37% (24-of-65) from the field, 18% (4-of-22) from the 3-point line and 44% (7-of-16) at the free throw line. The Cajuns outrebounded ULM, 41-37.
 
The Warhawks conclude the home schedule with Senior Day at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.