NORFOLK, Va. – Krystian Lewis, MJ Russell and Lavell Brodnex all reached over 20 points each as the ULM men's basketball team notched its first Sun Belt Conference win in an 85-79 result against Old Dominion Wednesday night.
 
Lewis led the team with 28 points, making 13-14 shots from the free throw line. Brodnex collected his seventh double-double of the year with 21 points and 11 boards on the night. Russell also totaled 21 points, shooting 9-16 from the field.
 
The Warhawks (4-20, 1-11 Sun Belt) pulled away in the second half, thanks in part to shooting over 51% from the field and amassing 20 free throws in the half. Overall, ULM shot over 44% compared to the Monarchs' (7-17, 4-8 Sun Belt) 42%.
 
A Lewis three-pointer served as the catalyst for a hot Warhawk start as the away team built a 6-2 advantage within the first two minutes. After a Monarch layup, two dunks by Brodnex and Russell, followed by a layup by Lewis, established firm ULM control with a 12-4 lead at the first media timeout.
 
Both teams stalled for the next three minutes, with the only scoring coming from the free-throw line. With 12:46 left in half one, the Warhawks powered another 6-2 scoring run led by four Russell points to increase the lead to 11. ODU closed the gap to four using an 8-1 run to make it 21-17 before two buckets by Russell and Alex Molofeev made it an eight-point game with 6:55 to play before the break.
 
With less than five minutes to go, Micah Caster drained a three-pointer to put ULM up by nine. The Monarchs responded with their first shot made from beyond the arc on the night from Jordan Battle to stay within two possessions. With a 28-23 lead under two minutes left, five unanswered Warhawk points, including four free throws, put the away squad up by 11. ODU was able to cash in a three-pointer as time expired to make it a 34-26 ULM lead at halftime.
 
It was the Monarchs with the hot start in the second half as a 10-2 run tied the game up at 36-36 within the first four minutes. With a tie game at 15:44 to go, three straight Warhawk layups, two by Brodnex and one by Russell, gave the away team a six-point cushion before Jordan Battle again countered with a shot from the three-point line.
 
With just over 13 minutes left, Dylan Diaz drew a foul from beyond the arc, presenting him with a trio of free throws, all of which he made. A layup and a free throw from ODU's Zacch Wiggins closed the gap to a score before Lewis tipped a shot in to make it 50-45. The two teams traded blows with the biggest shot coming from deep by Diaz as ULM held on to the five-point advantage with 9:29 to go.
 
Brodnex powered the Warhawks' lead to seven with a jump shot and two buckets from the charity stripe. The Monarchs responded with a three-pointer from Battle and a pair of free throws from Ketron Shaw to decrease the margin to two.
 
Both teams resulted in five free throws in the next minute of play, with ULM making four of five to push the lead back to five. After a Lewis jumper, Russell slammed down a dunk to push the lead to nine with under six minutes to play.
 
With less than four minutes left, after a missed shot, Brodnex recovered the rebound and scored the second-chance basket to make it 73-62. The rebound was his tenth of the game, qualifying him for the double-double.
 
After two ODU free throws, Battle sank his fifth three-pointer of the night to make it a six-point game. The Monarchs continued their scoring run with Shaw producing a layup and two shots from the line to force a one-possession game with just under two minutes left. Lewis quieted the threat with a pair of layups to put the Warhawks ahead by two scores with 58 seconds to go.
 
With ODU making it a three-point game at 40 seconds remaining, the fouls started to occur. ULM was brought to the free-throw line eight times and capitalized on every shot, driving the Monarchs away and securing the win. Brodnex and Russell made their two shots while Lewis made all four opportunities.
 
Alongside the trio for the Warhawks was Diaz, who totaled six points and two boards, and Ayomide Bamisile, tallying seven rebounds and leading the team with two blocks
 
The Warhawks take a break from Sun Belt play and host the MAC-SBC Challenge this Saturday against Ball State at 2 p.m. in Fant-Ewing Coliseum.