MONROE,
La. -- ULM closed out the regular season
with a 71-63 loss to UL-Lafayette on Saturday inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The
Ragin' Cajuns led the entire way, but had to hold off a flurry of ULM rallies
in the second half.
ULM (4-22, 3-17 SBC) shot 39.6 percent for the game
and struggled at the free-throw line, making 16-of-27 attempts on the night.
The Ragin' Cajuns (12-19, 8-12 SBC) countered by shooting 42.6 percent, including eight
3-pointers, for its fourth straight victory in Monroe.
Junior Amos Olatayo led the Warhawks with 21 points, his ninth game this
season with 20 or more points. Olatayo finished 6-of-14 from the field and
9-of-14 from the free-throw line. He also added eight rebounds and four
assists.
Junior Jayon James chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists,
three blocks and two steals and sophomore Trent
Mackey finished with 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, for the
Warhawks. Mackey moved into sole possession of 10th place on ULM's
single-season 3-pointers list with 68.
The Ragin' Cajuns led by as many as
14 points in the second half, but he Warhawks cut the lead to 66-62 on a pair
free throws from Olatayo with just under two minutes to play. ULL responded
with a tip-in bucket from Shawn Long
and a pair of free throws from Bryant
Mbamalu on consecutive possessions to seal the victory.
Long led UL-Lafayette with 17 points
and 10 rebounds while Mbamalu and Alan-Michael
Thompson each finished with 13 points.
ULM trailed 34-26 at the break, but
scored the first six points of the second half to get back into the game. A
layup from Olatayo at the 17:16 mark cut the Ragin' Cajun lead to 37-36, the
closest the Warhawks would get.
UL-Lafayette scored 11 straight
points, capped by a dunk from Elfrid
Payton with 12:42 remaining to increase its lead to double-digits. A
3-pointer by Thompson and two free throws by Long increased the Ragin' Cajuns
lead to 53-39 with 10:53 remaining.
ULM put together one final run in
the final minutes as Olatyao scored eight points during a 10-3 spurt to pull
the Warhawks within 64-60. The Ragin' Cajuns followed with points on three
straight possessions.
The Warhawks will be the No.11 seed
at the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament and open play on Friday (March 8) at
6 p.m. CT. The opponent is still undetermined.
