MONROE, La. – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team held Louisiana-Monroe to 1-for-8 shooting in the late stages of the contest and used a late first-half run to win 66-63 Saturday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Jaguars snap a seven-game losing streak to the Warhawks, even their overall record at 12-12, and improve to 5-6 in the Sun Belt Conference. ULM drops to 7-18 and 1-11.

"I'm really pleased with our effort tonight," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I thought the starters came out and got us off to a great start. As the half went on, we got a little sluggish and complacent. ULM wasn't going to quit – they made a great run on us – but the last three minutes of the first half was critical. Once we made that run, I felt pretty good about our mindset and where we were. We called that timeout and really challenged them, and they responded to finish the half. To go up one going into the half was a huge momentum burst for us."

ULM led by as many as 10 in the first half – even after falling behind 10-0 to start the contest – thanks to a 17-3 run, but USA finished the half strong, outscoring the Warhawks 13-2 in the final 3:04 to take a one-point lead into the break. Senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) hit two 3-pointers in that stretch, including one in the final 10 seconds.

After Sam McDaniel scored with 5:04 left to trim ULM's deficit to 54-51, South Alabama forced misses on seven of the Warhawks' next eight shots to take an eight-point advantage into the final minute.

UL Monroe shot 39.0 percent for the contest and 28.6 percent from 3-point land.

"I don't think there's any question, I thought our defense was really good in spurts for us," Graves said. "We made it tough on them. One of the frustrating things is we aren't rebounding the ball at a high enough level as we need to, but at the same time, I thought our energy and effort, and our ability to fly around and make plays was really good on the defensive end."

The Jaguars went 6 for 6 at the free-throw line to put the game away, despite a late burst from the Warhawks that got them within three in the last 10 seconds.

Williams led all scorers with 21 points, pouring in 12 in the second half alone. He went 4 for 6 from 3-point land, setting a new season high for made 3s in the process.

Freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) recorded his third double-double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and senior Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.) had 11 points and a career-high five blocks.

"There's no question we have a lot of versatility on our team," Graves stated. "A lot of guys stepped up and did some good things. Guys that didn't play very much tonight, we're going to need them on Monday. That's the beautiful thing about this team – we've got 11 guys in our rotation that on any given night, you can get multiple minutes from a bunch of different guys and they can do multiple things, whether that's score, rebound or defend. There are a lot of ways that we can be successful."

Williams and junior Dederick Lee (Clarksville, Ark.) had six assists apiece.

McDaniel had 20 points for Louisiana-Monroe, and Travis Munnings added 15 and eight rebounds.

The Jaguars go to Louisiana-Lafayette Monday night for a 7 p.m. start.

NOTES: Saturday was the 1,400th official game in school history… The seven-game skid to ULM was the program's second-longest active losing streak; the team has lost eight in a row to Middle Tennessee… Saturday marked the first time in five games the Jaguars didn't trail at halftime and improved to 7-3 when leading after 20 minutes… ULM entered the game 11th in the Sun Belt in turnover margin but forced 14 miscues while committing just 12… USA extended its streak of shooting 70 percent from the free-throw line to five games – its longest of the year – by converting a season-best 86.7 from the stripe… Williams is averaging 14.0 points and shooting 54.5 percent from the floor and 55.6 percent from 3-point land in the second half of his last three games; the 14.0 average is more than double anyone else on the team over that span… Williams has reached double-digit points in each of his last nine games, averaging 16.4 points with three 20-point performances over that stretch… MuepoKelly is averaging 9.7 points and shooting 61.9 from the field in his last seven games, and has a 13.5 scoring average in his last two…. Williams has led the team in scoring in each of his last three outings, and in assists three times in the last four games, putting up 24 helpers with just six turnovers during that span… Ajayi has hit double-digit points 10 times in 11 conference games, and two of his three double-doubles have come against league foes… MuepoKelly helped South Alabama tie its season high with seven blocks… The Jags' 7-for-14 effort from the 3-point line is a new season best.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

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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