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NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana-Monroe used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to run off with a 77-59 win over the University of South Alabama Friday in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament at Lakefront Arena.

The No. 3 seed Warhawks go to 21-11 on the season and face No. 2 seed Georgia Southern Saturday. The Jaguars finish the year at 12-21.

"We knew it was going to be difficult coming into this game after playing last night," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I felt like we had a pretty good game plan in mind, but unfortunately we weren't able to rebound the ball. They did a lot of tough things and when you give up 21 offensive rebounds that is certainly a recipe for disaster. Congratulations to ULM and I wish them the best of luck.

"I felt like we fought. We didn't get off to a very good start. We came back and made some plays, but ultimately this is a team that is still evolving. We got swept by the top three teams in this league, so we're not quite there yet, but we'll be back."

Senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) led the Jaguars with 16 points and seven rebounds in his final collegiate game. He shot 5-for-6 from the floor, made all six free-throw attempts and blocked two shots.

"I've talked a lot about what Dionte has meant to this program," Graves said. "Nobody can convince me that he's not the most improved player in the Sun Belt this year. That kid is an absolute warrior. He's going to be a tremendous success when he leaves the University of South Alabama with his degree in the spring."

Sophomore Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) was the only other Jaguar in double-digits with 13 points. Junior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) dished out a game-high four assists and freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) pulled down seven rebounds.

ULM won the battle of the boards 48-36 with 21 offensive rebounds that led to 28 second-chance points, the most by any USA opponent this season.

"You have to pick your poison with them a little bit and we played a lot of zone tonight trying to limit their motion cuts, and I thought we did a pretty good job of mixing in some zone and man, but we couldn't get that rebound," Graves stated. "They would miss their first shot but we weren't physical, long or athletic enough to get enough stops. If you hold them to one tough shot, get that rebound and get out in transition, then you have some better opportunities. If they get that defense set with their length, it makes it very difficult to score. Missing out on some of those opportunities to rebound and get in transition really came back to hurt us."

After a slow start that saw the Jaguars fall behind 17-7 in the first six minutes, they battled back and reeled off 15 of the next 18 points to take a two-point lead. However, ULM closed the half on a 16-4 spurt, capped off with a four-point play with 2.1 seconds left from Mack Foster.

"They had some really good momentum going into halftime," Graves said. "We were down four and they end on a 6-0 run. It's very similar to what happened in our home game with them—(Tylor) Ongwae hit a big '3' to go into halftime. You can't relax or let those type of momentum plays affect you, and unfortunately, they made a couple more plays and really extended that lead on us."

South Alabama got as close as seven early in the second period, but after Ferguson hit a pair of free throws to make it a 53-42 UL Monroe advantage with 11:46 remaining, the Warhawks outscored the Jaguars 14-2 over the next 4:08 to put the game away. Five different ULM players scored during the run, led by Majok Deng, who scored five of his 12 points during that stretch.

"There is no reason why this team can't win the whole thing," Graves said of UL Monroe. "They made 50 percent from three. They're going to have an outstanding chance to represent the Sun Belt in the NCAA Tournament because they defend. They don't beat themselves. [They only had] seven turnovers…they're very disciplined. They sometimes go into droughts where they can't score the basketball. If they're making shots, especially from the 3-point line, they're going to be a really tough out."

Deng recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, as did DeMondre Harvey, who had 11 points and 10 boards. Tylor Ongwae paced all players with 17 points, and Nick Coppola had 12 points—all in the first half—on four 3-pointers.

NOTES: Williams' season 3-point total of 87 is fifth-best in school history and he currently ranks eighth at South Alabama with 142 triples in his career… Ferguson totaled 51 blocks this season, eighth-best at USA… USA averaged 61.9 points in 12 losses vs. Sun Belt schools, and 56.3 in its final 11 defeats of the season… Senior Jermaine Williams (Saint Stephens, Ala.) scored his first career points in his last game on a three-point play in the final minute… The two schools were meeting in the Sun Belt Tournament for the first time… The Jags finished the year 2-16 when scoring fewer than 70 points… In Ferguson's final four games, he averaged 16.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, while shooting 75.0 percent from the floor and 88.5 percent from the foul line… UL Monroe swept all three games and has won five in a row in the series; South Alabama led for a combined 55 seconds in all three contests.

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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