Despite being behind for most of the first half, Southern Miss managed to win its fourth straight Sun Belt game, beating Louisiana Monroe 70-60 on Saturday.
Southern Miss (11-7, 5-1 Sun Belt) broke Louisiana Monroe’s (3-15, 0-6) second-half lead less than three minutes in and never let go. Here’s how the rest of the game in Hattiesburg went down.
Scoring summary
Southern Miss struggled to get much going after Louisiana Monroe went on a 14-3 run early in the first half. Curt Lewis scored the Golden Eagles’ only two baskets of the team’s first 11 attempts.
Chiante Tramble made a deep shot to spark some Southern Miss momentum and then Djahi Binet followed with his first career three-pointer. That cut the ULM advantage to 22-17 as Dylan Brumfield and Tylik Weeks then scored on back-to-back possessions to make it a four-point game as the Warhawks scored in between.
ULM countered with consecutive three pointers that extended its lead back to seven with less than three minutes to play in the half. Just as the Warhawks answered, so did Southern Miss. Over the final three minutes of the half, Southern Miss went on a 10-0 run to take a 31-28 lead into intermission.
Both teams traded baskets to open the second half before ULM went on an 8-0 run in the span of a minute. That gave the Warhawks a four-point lead, but Brumfield countered with five straight points to take the lead with 17:18 remaining – a lead the Golden Eagles never let go of.
For the second straight game, Weeks came alive in the second half and made his presence known with a string of jumpers that put Southern Miss ahead by eight. The Golden Eagles went on a stretch of 7-of-10 from the field as ULM kept fighting back. The score was 54-51 with eight minutes remaining.
Israel Hart nailed a pair of bit-time treys as Southern Miss clung on to its narrow lead down the stretch. ULM used a free throw to get within six with two and a half minutes left, but solid free-throw shooting from the Golden Eagles did the job as they finished with a 70-60 victory.
What the coach said
Southern Miss veteran coach Jay Ladner was thankful his team came away with the victory but recognized the struggles shown at times.
“ULM came out and played well defensively as we struggled to score in the first half,” expressed Ladner, in his seventh year at his alma mater. “I thought we got some great looks and converted them in the second half.”
Even though the Golden Eagles finished 42% from the floor, they shot a 52% clip in the second half.
Numbers never lie
Southern Miss is now 5-1 in Sun Belt play, marking its best league start since the 2013-14 season. It was the second win of the season over ULM, taking the Golden Eagles’ series lead to 30-17 all time and 20-6 when playing in Hattiesburg.
Binet scored 16 points to finish in double figures for the eighth time this season and for the fourth straight game. The Frenchman picked up his fourth double-double of the season and the ninth of his career by adding 11 boards. It’s his third double-double in four games.
Brumfield, a Hattiesburg native, reached double figures for the eighth time this season with 20 points. He added a career-high three blocks.
Izzy Hart made at least two three-pointers for the fifth time this season and finished with 10 points.
ULM was led by Krystian Lewis (20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) and Renars Sondors (12 points, nine rebounds).
Up next
Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles will travel to Troy for a Wednesday game that tips off at 6 p.m.
Louisiana Monroe: The Warhawks will return home and play Georgia State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.