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MONROE, La. – Down as many as 18 points early in the second half, the University of South Alabama men's basketball team closed to within three but was unable to get any closer in a 67-61 defeat at Louisiana-Monroe Saturday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Warhawks go to 14-8 overall and 8-3 in the Sun Belt Conference, while the Jaguars fall to 7-15 and 5-6.

"Unfortunately we didn't start the way we needed to," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "On the road, in an environment where you're playing a top-tier team in this league, you cannot let them go 8-for-10 right out of the gate. That was really frustrating; we didn't lock in and defend the way we needed to. We dug ourselves a really deep hole but I'm really proud because once we dug in and were able to get some stops, then we were able to get out in transition and do some nice things.

"In the second half we got to the free-throw line a little bit, we made some 3s, got out in transition and got a lot of stops, but unfortunately when you allow a team to get up 18 on their home floor, you're asking for a monumental task to get back into it."

ULM used a 9-0 run in the first half to take a 20-7 lead, and extended it to 18 after scoring the first four points after halftime.

The Jaguars responded with 10 unanswered points over a 3:17 span, six from senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.), while the Warhawks missed eight straight shots.

UL Monroe snapped the drought with a bucket, but sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) singlehandedly sparked an 8-2 USA run in almost three minutes—the final three coming on a trifecta—to pull within four (40-36) at the 9:41 mark.

"When he gets it going, he's as good of a scorer as anyone in this league when he gets in a rhythm," Graves said of Williams. "We spaced the floor well and he can really make shots in a hurry."

Nick Coppola converted a three-point play on the other end, Williams answered with one of his own, and after a ULM layup, junior John Brown (Charlotte, N.C.) nailed a triple for a 45-42 score, the closest the Jags had been since the first three minutes of the contest.

The Warhawks scored 11 of the next 15 points to go back up 56-46, but the Jaguars battled back and cut the margin to 63-59 with 1:20 remaining after a four-point play from freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.). USA forced a stop on ULM's next possession, but missed its next two shots and Tylor Ongwae iced the game with four free throws in the final 23 seconds.

"That's what I love about this team; they don't have any quit in them and they continue to play hard," Graves said. "I told them after the game that I'd like to get on the flip side of this and get a team down 16 to 20 points and see what we do from that end."

Williams led all scorers with 23 points—16 after halftime—on 7 of 13 shooting overall and 3 of 7 from 3-point land. Ferguson added 16, with 12 coming in the second half, and had four blocks.

Majok Deng paced the Warhawks with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Ongwae recorded a double-double with 16 points and a game-high 13 boards. Coppola tallied 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

"We knew going into the game we were going to have a tough matchup with their size and length, with their '3' (Ongwae) being 6-foot-7 and really long and athletic, and their '4' man (Deng) being 6-foot-10 with a seven-foot-plus wingspan. That's asking a lot, but at the same time, we just weren't physical enough and we didn't play as hard as we needed to on every single possession. In the second half, when we did some of those things, the results swung in our favor a little bit."

The Jaguars play twice at home next week, starting with Texas State on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Louisiana-Monroe has won three in a row over South Alabama for the first time in school history… USA has scored 53, 55, 89 and 61 points in its last four games… Williams has seven 20-point performances this season, more than double the rest of the team combined (three)… Williams also moved into 11th place in school history with 110 career 3-pointers; he is six away from moving into a tie for 10th… Johnson, who set a new career high with 23 points on Thursday, was held to seven tonight, with six coming after halftime… The Jaguars' 18 first-half points is a new season low… Ferguson is averaging 17.0 points with a 63.6 shooting percentage in his last two outings… Junior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) has 10 assists and no turnovers in his last two games after dishing out without a miscue tonight.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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