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MOBILE, Ala. – Louisiana-Monroe made its last five shots from the floor and used a 16-5 run in the final six minutes to defeat the University of South Alabama men's basketball team 66-59 Thursday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Warhawks keep their win streak alive at six and remain in second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings at 12-5 and 16-12 overall. The Jaguars fall to 7-10 in the league and 12-16 overall.

South Alabama rallied from a 15-point deficit in the first half and held the lead with five minutes to play but went almost five minutes without a field goal to aid UL Monroe's late run.

"The first half didn't go quite the way we wanted it," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "There was really too many possessions that we didn't value, and we didn't have guys on the same page for what we were trying to do. Our defensive intensity was sporadic at times.

"I thought the group that played the second half did an outstanding job. They were vocal, they were aggressive, they got several stops in a row, and we were attacking the basket, getting to the free-throw line, making plays, and did a nice job valuing most of our possessions. Those guys saw the rewards of doing that and did really well in the second half against a team that is playing as well as anybody in this league. Those are the things we have to show the consistency of being able to do it for an entire 40 minutes."

A dunk from junior Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.) put the Jaguars ahead 52-51 with 5:21 to play, but the Warhawks scored the next five points, the last four on a pair of layups from Nick Coppola to go up four with 2:55 left.

USA made 3 of 4 free-throw attempts around a bucket from Justin Roberson to trail 58-55 with 1:58 left in regulation, but ULM scored the next six points – the last four at the foul line – to take an insurmountable 64-55 lead with less than 30 seconds to play.

"You talk about championship level teams, and they're a championship level team," Graves said. "You take a punch, especially on the road, and you keep fighting all the way to the end. They're very well coached. Keith Richard has done an outstanding job. They're disciplined. They only turned the ball over 10 times. They get quality shots at the right time. Unfortunately, we came up a few possessions short tonight.

"There's no doubt our guys that played in the second half probably wore down a bit, but I felt that they gave us the best chance to win tonight. Hopefully on Saturday, we'll get a couple more guys that can help us and be more focused and ready to play."

UL Monroe went 4 for 6 from the floor with no turnovers in its 13-3 run over the final five minutes, and forced five straight South Alabama misses and two turnovers.

The Jaguars were down as many as 13 early in the second half and trailed by 11 five minutes after intermission before reeling off 11 consecutive points in a 3:29 span. Juniors Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) and Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) combined for nine of those points – six from the free-throw line – while junior Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) added the final two.

Defensively South Alabama forced five turnovers, including three in a four-possession span, and UL Monroe went 0 for 4 from the field.

"The defense was really good," Graves noted. "From the time we played them about a month ago to now, it's night and day with our effort and our ability to guard in man-to-man and be physical."

MuepoKelly came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points on 6 for 9 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds.

"MuepoKelly played really well tonight," Graves said. "He did some nice things. He's physical, and when he plays physical and when he's focused, he can help us do some nice things. He's got the size and mobility to make some plays, and I was really happy with the way he played for us tonight."

Williams paced the Jags with 14 points, shooting 7 for 8 from the charity stripe, and Boyanov tallied 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Jamaal Samuel had 11 of his game-high 15 points in the first half, and was one of four ULM starters in double-digits.

South Alabama closes out its 2015-16 home schedule Saturday at 4:05 p.m. against Louisiana-Lafayette.

NOTES: UL Monroe has won seven straight in the series, the longest active streak by a Sun Belt school against USA… Senior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) set a new USA career record for games played (120)… Allen dished out a team-best four assists, and has seven helpers against three turnovers in his last three games… Boyanov has nine or more rebounds in each of his last four outings… ULM, who was averaging 9.4 triples with a 42.9 shooting percent from distance in its last eight games, was held to just five 3s and 25.0 percent shooting… USA's last three opponents are converting only 24.2 percent from beyond the arc… The Jaguars fell to 1-14 (1-8 SBC) when being outshot and 2-12 (2-8 SBC) when scoring fewer than 70 points… Boyanov's three blocks tie his career high set earlier this year vs. IUPUI… Freshman Nikola Marijan (Backi Brestovac, Serbia) tied his personal best with two blocks and grabbed five boards… USA's bench outscored ULM's 23-4 and had 17 second-chance points to ULM's nine.

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).

—USA—