MONROE, La. – Little Rock (21-3, 11-2 SBC) was unable to overcome a double-digit second-half deficit, falling 86-82 at ULM (12-12, 8-5 SBC) at Fant-Ewing Coliseum on Thursday night. The Trojans trailed by 10 at halftime and were down as many as 11 in the second half.
Josh Hagins led five Trojans in double figures with 19 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists.
Jalen Jackson and
Mareik Isom added 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench.
Roger Woods and
Lis Shoshi scored 10 points each.
Woods added a season-high nine rebounds in 27 minutes.
The Trojans finished the game shooting 46.2 percent from the floor, but couldn't overcome a Warhawks offense that shot 50.9 percent from the floor, 53.3 percent from 3 and made 24 free throws on the night.
Majok Deng and Justin Roberson led ULM with 23 points each. Nick Coppola and Travis Munnings added 11 points apiece.
Down seven with 2:21 left, Jackson and Hagins converted baskets off of ULM turnovers to make it a three-point game, 74-71, with 1:56 to play.
Deng split a pair at the line following a ULM timeout. But the Trojans came up empty on their next two possessions, and the Warhawks scored the next four points as part of a 5-0 run to push the margin back to eight with 1:07 remaining.
The Trojans continued to fight back, pulling within four with 21 seconds to go, and within three after a basket by Isom with 10 seconds to play.
ULM inbounded the ball to Coppola, who was fouled and made one of two free throws to effectively put the game out of reach.
The loss snapped Little Rock's six-game win streak, while ULM improved to 10-0 at home on the season.
ULM entered halftime with a 42-32 lead thanks to 17 first-half points from Deng.
After six lead changes in the first nine minutes, a 10-0 run by ULM midway through the opening half turned a 15-12 Trojans lead into a 22-15 deficit with less than nine minutes to play in the half.
The Warhawks hit seven straight shots at one point and built a 13-point lead twice, the second at 40-27 with 2:09 to play in the half. Little Rock scored five of the final seven points to close the half and bring the margin to 42-32 at intermission.
ULM finished the first half shooting 54.2 percent from the floor, 71.4 percent from 3 and 11 of 13 from the foul line.
Little Rock returns to action on Saturday at Louisiana. Tipoff is set for 4:15 p.m. at the Cajundome.
