MOBILE, Ala. ? Despite not having three starters, the Jaguars found a way to win tonight as they came from an early 13-4 deficit to defeat Sun Belt Conference Western Division leader Louisiana-Monroe 64-57. With the win, USA improves to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in conference play. The Jags take over sole possession of first place in the Eastern Division as Western Kentucky lost at Arkansas State.
“I am just so proud of how our guys’ character and how they displayed that tonight,” Jaguar head coach John Pelphrey said. “We had some great efforts tonight and the team has come so far in a short time.”
Without senior Carlos Smith and juniors Demetric Bennett and Daon Merritt, who were suspended for violating team curfew rules, the rest of the team had to step up and that they did. Freshman Brooks Taylor had a career-high 10 points and sophomore Brandon Davis had 13 and senior Stephen Cowherd added 10 points and a career-high eight assists in his second start of the season.
The game opened as each team exchanged buckets and then ULM went on a an 11-0 run before sophomore Brandon Davis hit a turnaround jumper in the lane to end the run with just over 11 minutes left in the half. During the run, USA missed six-straight shots.
An old-fashion 3-point play by Taylor cut the Warhawk lead down to eight points with just over nine minutes to play in the half. A pair of free throws by Davis cut the deficit to six points at 17-11 with 8:35 left in the half.
Senior Leandro Buboltz also converted the hoop and the harm, cutting the deficit to 22-18 with 5:30 to play in the half. Freshman Darren Cloud hit just his second 3-pointer of the season cutting the deficit to 24-21 with 3:55 to play in the half as the Jaguars began to get on track. The third hoop and foul for the Jags by Davis cut the deficit to three points at 27-24 with three minutes to play in the half.
A turnaround jumper at the buzzer by junior Ernest Little brought the Jaguars within one point at 30-29 as time expired in the half.
“The guys hung in there and didn’t get frustrated and played the game we wanted to play,” Pelphrey said.
For the half, the Jags shot 37.9 percent on 11 of 29 from the field after starting the game 2 of 11 through the first 10 minutes. Davis led the Jags with 10 points off the bench on 3 of 4 from the field and 4 of 5 from the charity stripe. USA was 1 of 8 from beyond the arc and 6 of 7 from the line.
ULM shot 40 percent for the half on 10 of 25 from the field, but really shined shooting 58 percent from beyond the arc on 7 of 12. The Warhawks were led by 13 points from Jonas Brown as he was 4 of 9 from the floor and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.
The second half opened as Buboltz hit his first 3-pointer of the game to tie the game at 32. Cowherd put the Jags up for the first time as he hit two free throws for a 36-34 lead with 16 minutes to play. Cowherd followed with a trey to push the lead to 39-34.
Back-to-back 3-pointer by Lance Brasher tied the game at 43 with 12:21 to play in regulation. Two free throws by Taylor put the Jags back up 45-43 with 11:50 to play. Brasher hit a old-fashion 3-point play to put ULM back up for the first time since the beginning of the half.
The lead was short lived, however as Hooks took a nice pass from Little for two and Little got a tip-in after a steal by Cowherd putting USA up 49-46 with 8:12 to play. After a timeout by ULM, Davis pushed the Jag lead up to five on a layup for a 51-46 score.
The fourth hoop and harm for the Jaguars gave USA a 54-46 with just over five minute to play and Little scored his 12th point of the game. A 3-pointer by Buboltz pushed the Jag lead to USA largest lead, 11 with 4:14 to play in regulation.
After a timeout by ULM, Brasher hit another 3-pointer to cut the Jaguar lead back to eight with 3:50 to play. A layup by Brandon Roberts cut the deficit to five points with 2:25 to play. Cowherd ended a 6-0 run by the Warhawks at the charity stripe making 1 of 2 pushing the lead to six with under a minute to play.
Roberts hit a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound to cut the lead to 58-55 with 36.2 seconds remaining. A quick foul by ULM put Cowherd back on the line where he hit two free throws to put the lead back to five with 33.0 seconds remaining.
ULM hit two free throws to cut it back to three, but an intentional foul was called on Brasher putting Little back on the line where he pushed the lead to five points with 25.9 seconds left.
USA did not make a field goal in the final 4:25, but solid free throw shooting preserved the victory. The Jaguars hit 7 of 10 free throws in the final minute.
For the game, USA shot 37.7 percent on 20 of 53 from the field. The Jags were 4 of 15 from beyond the arc, but countered with a 20 of 27 night from the line. Davis and Little each had 13 points for the Jags.
ULM’s Brown had a game-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers. Also in double figures was Brasher with 15 points and Tony Hooper with 11. The Warhawks shot 35 percent from the field, but were 12 of 24 from beyond the arc and just 7 of 9 from the line.
USA continues its homestand with an afternoon game at 1:30 p.m. against North Texas Sunday.
