Men’s Basketball Falls At ULM
The South Alabama men’s basketball team was outscored 36-21 in the second half as Louisiana-Monroe coasted to a 71-54 win on Thursday night.
The Jags shot only 26.9% from the floor after halftime en route to scoring the fewest points of the season. A 16-3 run late in the game secured the victory for the Warhawks.
USA falls to 9-19 overall and 3-12 in conference play while ULM improves to 9-14 overall and 6-9 in conference play.
Augustine Rubit was the only Jaguar in double digits scoring with 14, which was enough to move him into second place in the school’s All-Time scoring list with 1,868 points and into ninth place in Sun Belt history.
All five of ULM’s starters scored in double-digits. Jayon James had a game high 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, Chinedu Amajoyi added 12 points and eight rebounds, Nick Coppola added 11 points and six assists and Tylor Ongwae and Marvin Williams both scored 10 points each.
“I really wanted see how we would come out and perform because we knew this was a game we needed to compete and win if we wanted to continue our season in the conference tournament,” head coach Matthew Graves said. “I thought we started off OK, not great, but we were in the game. We got down 10 in the first half and I thought our team showed a lot of resolve and came back and tied the game. But in the last four minutes we had three turnovers that got them in a rhythm.”
“At the start of the second half I was really disappointed in how we came out of the locker room,” Graves continued. “We missed a loose ball, got scored on in the post and it really snowballed from there. In this game, you’ve got to be strong and physical and have to want contact. They were the more physical, more aggressive team, and nine times out of 10 when that happens, you’re not going to come out on the side you want.”
The Jags play their final road game of the season on Sunday at Louisiana-Lafayette. Tip-off is scheduled for 3pm and in addition to the normal WNSP broadcast, it will also be available on the Sun Belt Network so check your local listings for availability.