Box Score MONROE, La. ? Tony Hooper scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to lead ULM (6-9, 1-3) to a 68-64 victory over the UALR men's basketball team at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The Trojans (4-11, 0-4) led 59-54 with 7:25 left in the game, but went scoreless over the next 6:31, allowing the Warhawks to pull out their first conference victory of the season.
Hooper was 10-of-23 from the field and 8-of-16 from three-point range on his way to a season-high 28-point performance. The senior guard scored 17 of ULM's first 25 points at the start of the second half to help the Warhawks overcome a three-point halftime deficit.
The Trojans took a 59-54 lead with 7:25 left to play off a bucket by senior Wayne Burton, but wouldn't score again until a layup by junior Solomon Bozeman with 54 seconds remaining. ULM took advantage of UALR's drought by embarking on a 12-0 run, with eight points from Hooper, to go ahead 66-59 with 1:09 to go.
UALR fought back to pull within two, 66-64, off a layup by Bozeman at the 25 second mark, and nearly forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounds play, but the Warhawks were able to get the ball in play and Dynile Forbes hit a pair of foul shots to seal the victory.
Junior Matt Mouzy finished with a team-high 19 points after making 7-of-11 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range. Bozeman added 17 points for the Trojans, followed by 10 points and seven boards from junior Alex Garcia-Mendoza. Burton chipped in six points, two blocks and a career-high nine rebounds in the losing effort.
UALR connected on 10-of-23 three-point attempts (43.5 pct.) and committed just 12 turnovers on the night. The Warhawks countered the Trojans long-range shooting by making 11-of-26 from beyond the arc (42.3 pct.). After allowing UALR to shoot 48.1 percent in the first half, the Warhawks held the Trojans to a .344 clip in the second half while enjoying a +10 rebounding margin on the night.
Mouzy picked up the scoring slack in the first half to help the Trojans take a 35-32 lead into the break. The Jonesboro, Ark.-native led all players with 13 points at the intermission after making 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range.
UALR held a 12-11 lead after a three pointer by Garcia-Mendoza with 12:22 to play in the half, but ULM embarked on a 10-0 run to go on top 21-12 with 9:24 to go. Rudy Turner scored the first four points of the run at the foul line and Hooper capped it off with back-to-back three pointers to put the Warhawks ahead.
Trailing by nine, Mouzy took over for the Trojans, scoring 13 of UALR's next 18 points, the last of which was a three pointer that put the visitors ahead 30-29 with 2:17 remaining. Tied at 32-all, Garcia-Mendoza delivered a three-point play to send the Trojans into the break with a 35-32 lead.
The Trojans were outrebounded 23-to-12 in the first half and surrendered 11 offensive boards to ULM, but outshot the Warhawks 48.1 percent to 34.4 percent from the field and forced the home team into 10 turnovers. UALR was 6-of-11 from three-point range in the half, led by Mouzy's 3-of-4 effort from beyond the arc.
UALR returns to action Saturday, Jan. 9 when it hosts Middle Tennessee at 7 p.m.
