MONROE, La. – Coltie Young made five 3-pointers and was one point shy of a career high with 27 points and Makai Willis scored 17 as the ULM men's basketball team (5-17, 1-8 Sun Belt Conference) snapped a ten-game losing streak with a 77-66 win over South Alabama (14-7, 6-3) on Monday (Jan. 27) night inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
 
"I thought we played really good defense tonight," said ULM Head Coach Keith Richard. "They [South Alabama] are hard to guard, and they constantly move. Their shot selection is good, and they don't take a bad shot and drain the shot clock. That took a lot of energy defensively, and I thought we did really well guarding them."
 
The Warhawks held the Jaguars to 34.3% shooting from the field and 25.6% from 3-point range on 10-for-39 shot attempts. The Jags' field goal shooting percentage was the lowest ULM held a Division I opponent during the 2024-25 season.
 
On the offensive end, the Warhawks knocked down 11 shots from beyond the arc, one shy of the team's highest 3-point total against a Sun Belt opponent. The Warhawks cashed in 24-of-26 shots from the free throw line, with Willis going a perfect 9-for-9 at the line. ULM outrebounded South Alabama by nine and held the Jags to 14 second-chance points.
 
ULM's offense was generated by five double-digit scorers. Young added seven rebounds and an assist to his stat line and sank four free throws to add to his 27-point night. Willis matched his career high in blocks with three and also collected seven boards. Jalen Bolden finished with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jacob Wilson netted 11 points and pulled down eight boards and dished out five assists. Tyreese Watson rounded out the scoring for ULM with 10 points and was one assist shy of a double-double.
 
Dylan Fasoyiro led South Alabama with 14 points while Myles Corey scored 14 and distributed seven assists. John Broom made four 3-pointers, tallying 12 points.
 
The game started with a three-pointer from Randy Broom before Young drained one of his own for the Warhawks. With the two teams tied at 5-5, South Alabama made another 3-point shot, and Young again responded with a bucket to make it a one-point game in favor of the visitors.
 
South Alabama made its third 3-pointer to increase the lead to four after the media timeout. After two Willis free throws, Young swished his second triple of the first half to give ULM a 12-11 lead. Wilson followed with a three to give the Warhawks a four-point lead with 10:08 left in the first half. A long ball by the Jaguars closed the gap and Young responded with another three to put the Warhawks back ahead by four. After Jayden Cooper gave the Jags another 3-pointer, this time it was Bolden with the shot beyond the arc with 8:18 left in the half. After the sixth triple of the half for South Alabama, JJ Wheat scored on a breakaway to give the Jags the lead.
 
After two more Willis free throws, Watson rimmed home another triple to give ULM the four-point lead again with 3:49 to go in the half. Young drained his fourth long-range shot of the first half, and Willis added another two points with a dunk to give the Warhawks a nine-point lead.  The Jaguars continued their three-point shooting, closing the gap to six. With the score at 33-27, Willis made a jumper before the buzzer, and the Warhawks took an eight-point lead into halftime. Young had 16 first-half points and Makai Willis had eight with four rebounds.
 
Willis started the second half with an and-one bucket and made the free throw to secure the three-point play. The Jaguars responded with six straight points to cut the lead to five before Willis put the lead to seven with a hook-shot jumper. With a 42-35 lead, Young made his fifth triple of the night and gave the Warhawks their first double-digit lead of the night. USA drained its eighth shot beyond the arch to make it a seven-point contest, before Young added two free throws. With a 47-38 lead, Bolden made the Warhawks' ninth 3-point shot to lead by 12 with 11:58 left.
 
After the two teams traded three-pointers, Wilson kept the perfect free-throw shooting going with two more shots. Young sprinted down a defensive rebound and slammed home a pass from Watson on the break to give ULM a commanding 16-point lead. South Alabama made two buckets to trim ULM's lead to 12 with 7:38 left. Three Warhawk free throws from Watson bumped the lead back to 15. After a driving layup by South Alabama, Bolden made his third shot from long range, pushing ULM's advantage 63-47.
 
ULM held a 14-point lead at the final media timeout with four minutes remaining. After South Alabama made a basket, Wilson drained two more points from the line to keep the Warhawks perfect in free throws with 3:12 to play. The Jaguars produced an and-one to close the gap to 11 points. After a free throw from Wilson, USA added another three-point play to make it a 68-59 game with 2:11 left. The two teams traded buckets before a layup by South Alabama forced a seven-point game and a Warhawk timeout with 1:12 to play.
 
With two free throws, Young reached 27 points in the game. The Warhawks pushed the lead back to over ten with another pair of shots from the line. A three from the Jaguars forced a 74-66 game with 35.2 seconds left.  Willis increased his free throw total to nine with two more makes, giving ULM a ten-point lead. ULM held USA scoreless the rest of the way and won its first conference game of the season with a 77-66 final score.
 
The Warhawks return to action on Thursday, Jan. 30 with a rematch vs. South Alabama in Mobile. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. with the action unfolding on ESPN+.