Box Score MONROE, La. - The UALR men's basketball team (14-12, 6-5 SBC) got back on track with a 61-53 victory over ULM (6-21, 1-12) on Saturday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. UALR senior
Solomon Bozeman led the Trojans with 18 points in the win, while junior
Marlon Louzeiro posted his first double-double with an 11-point, 12-rebound performance.
"I was proud of our guys for finishing it off tonight. You have to give Keith Richard and ULM credit, their guys continued to fight when they got down," said UALR head coach Steve Shields. "The first 15 minutes of the game tonight were the way we wanted to play. We defended, we rebounded and we shared the ball. Unfortunately, we got away from that. As we told our guys in the locker room, it's not just that we won, but how we played that we need to focus on."
UALR took control of the game with a dominant first-half effort, building its lead as high as 22 points, and staved off one ULM rally after another in the second half. The Warhawks went 0-of-7 from three-point range in the first half, but got back into the game by making 6-of-12 three pointers in the second half. ULM got within three points of the Trojans late in the game, 51-48, but Bozeman answered with a basket inside then hit two free throws moments later to hold off the Warhawks.
Fred Brown led all scorers with 22 points off 8-of-18 shooting (4-of-9 from three-point range), while Lawrence Gilbert added 17 points and six boards in the loss. ULM shot just 22.7 percent from the field in the first half, but bounced back to make 13-of-26 from the floor over the final 20 minutes (50.0 percent).
The Trojans were rolling on all cylinders at the start of the game, using crisp ball movement and solid defensive pressure to run out to a 13-2 lead. Senior Alex Garcia-Mendoza set the tone for UALR early on, scoring 10 of the team's first 13 points as UALR built an 11-point advantage with 12:30 left to play.
Leading 20-8, the Trojans ripped off a 12-2 run, with five points from Bozeman, to take their biggest lead of the half, 32-10, with 3:23 remaining. Down by 22, ULM was able to close out the half with a quick 7-0 spurt, with five of its points coming at the foul line, to make it a 32-17 contest at the break.
UALR shot 47.8 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes, while limiting the Warhawks to a paltry 5-of-22 effort (22.7 percent). Junior D'Andre Williams helped get the Trojan offense in rhythm at the start of the game by assisting on three of the team's first seven field goals.
After making just five field goals in the first half, ULM converted six of its first eight field goal attempts in the second half to cut its deficit to single digits. Down 37-22, the Warhawks rattled off a 10-3 run, capped off by back-to-back three pointers from Brown and Gilbert, to make it a 40-32 contest with 15:02 left in the game.
UALR responded with a jumper by Louzeiro and a three pointer by senior Matt Mouzy to push its lead back to 13 points, 45-32. ULM rallied once again, as Gilbert scored six points as part of a 7-0 run and hit a three pointer at the 9:24 mark to bring ULM within six, 45-39.
Trailing by seven, Brown hit a three pointer and RJ McCray made two free throws to bring the Warhawks within three, 51-48, with 5:07 left in the game. With the lead down to three, Bozeman would score the Trojans' next eight points to help UALR pull out the 61-53 win.
UALR returns to action next Thursday when it hosts Western Kentucky at 7 p.m. The game will be televised by Fox College Sports.
