PENSACOLA, Fla. -- The ULM men's basketball team battled back from an eight-point deficit in the second half and forced overtime but fell to the Ragin' Cajuns 73-69 in the first round of the 2025 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. 

The Warhawks outscored the Cajuns 17-9 in the final 7:37 of regulation to send the game into overtime. A Coltie Young 3-point bucket with 1:19 on the clock brought ULM within two points in overtime after the Warhawks trailed by five. The Cajuns held ULM scoreless in the final minute of overtime and survived to the next round. 

Tuesday's game was the final in head coach Keith Richard's 40-year coaching career. Richard retires with 320 career wins in 24 seasons as a head coach and 170 wins in 15 seasons at ULM, including four postseason appearances. 

"It was a very competitive game," said Keith Richard. "In close games, a few plays dictate the outcome of the game. I feel our team did not get rewarded for their hard work, and tonight was one of those nights." 

ULM was led by junior guard Jalen Bolden, who played all 45 minutes and scored a team-high 21 points, which was his fifth 20-point game of the season. Bolden shot 9-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from 3-point range and added a pair of rebounds and one assist. AD Diedhiou was one point shy from a career-high and netted 15 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot. 

The Cajuns had two players eclipse 20 points and were led by Mostapha El Moutaouakkil, who finished with a career-high 28 points while Michael Thomas added a career-high 21 points. Christian Wright facilitated the offense and led the team with five assists. 

ULM (46.2%) posted a higher field goal percentage than the Cajuns (45.0%) while the Cajuns connected on three more 3-point baskets than the Warhawks. The Cajuns outrebounded the Warhawks by three and outscored ULM in points from turnovers (11-5) and second-chance points (10-7). The lead was exchanged 11 times and the back-and-forth game featured 11 lead changes with no team leading more than eight points at any juncture.  

A turnover created by a steal from Young led to a Bolden triple to open the scoring for the Warhawks. Bolden scored seven of the first nine points for ULM as neither team led by more than three through the opening eight minutes. After the Cajuns stretched the lead to four, Diedhiou powered his way to make two-straight layups and evened the score, 13-13 at the 10:03 mark of the first half. Bolden completed a 6-0 scoring run for the Warhawks, giving ULM its first lead since the opening two minutes of the game. 

The Cajuns went back in front following five unanswered points. Diedhiou made a layup and sank a pair of free throws to pull ULM back in the lead, 19-18 with less than six minutes remaining in the opening half. Both teams exchanged 3-point buckets after Wright and Jacob Wilson knocked down shots from beyond the arc as ULM maintained a one-point lead. Neither team made a shot from the field in the final three minutes of the half and the Cajuns held a two-point lead at the break. The back-and-forth first half featured eight ties and seven lead changes. 

Bolden drained his second triple of the night for ULM's first points of the second half. The Cajuns pushed the lead back to two possessions after a 5-0 scoring run and later extended the lead to seven, the largest of the night. ULM whittled the Cajuns' lead to two after a Watson three-point play and a layup by Diedhiou. Wright made his second 3-pointer of the night and increased the Cajuns' lead to five. A layup by Watson and two free throws by Diedhiou trimmed the Cajuns' advantage to three points midway through the second half. 

The Ragin' Cajuns pushed the lead to 54-46 after a triple by Kentrell Garnett and a pullup jumper by El Moutaouakkil. Makai Willis grabbed an offensive rebound and putback a layup that began ULM's longest scoring run of the night, a 7-0 run. Bolden finished the scoring spree with a driving layup and his third 3-pointer of the night to bring ULM within one point under five minutes to go. Watson buried a 3-pointer with 3:14 left and the Warhawks stayed within one point of the Cajuns' lead. 

After El Moutaouakkil sank a free throw, Young scored his first points of the night on a 3-pointer in the corner assisted by Watson that sprung ULM in the lead for the first time in the second half with 1:32 left. The Cajuns went back ahead on the next possession following a timeout. Watson delivered an assist to Diedhiou, who cut through the lane for a dunk to bring the Warhawks back on top by one point with less than a minute left. The Cajuns called on Thomas, who delivered a clutch 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to swing the lead back to the Cajuns. 63-61. On ULM's next possession, Watson was fouled and sank both free throws to even the score at 63. ULM prevented the Cajuns from scoring on the last possession of regulation, and five additional minutes were needed to decide the winner. 

With the score tied at 66-66 in overtime, El Moutaouakkil made a bucket to pull the Cajuns ahead by two points with two minutes left. Wright buried his third 3-pointer of the night, increasing the Cajuns' lead to five with 1:35 remaining in overtime. Young answered with his second triple of the night and trimmed the Cajuns' advantage to two points with a minute remaining.  

Watson stripped El Moutaouakkil just beyond midcourt, but the ball ricocheted off Watson's leg out of bounds and gave possession back to the Cajuns. ULM's tenacious defense delivered a crucial stop inside 30 seconds left and the Warhawks had a chance to tie the game or take the lead in the closing seconds. With 14 seconds left, El Moutaouakkil made a huge defensive play and forced a steal, awarding the basketball back to the Cajuns. Brandon Hardy lofted a pass ahead to El Moutaouakkil for a breakaway layup that sealed the contest for the Cajuns in overtime.