MOBILE, Ala. – Despite a strong second half, the South Alabama men's basketball team fell for the third game in a row and the second straight game to ULM 62-58 Thursday night in the Mitchell Center. The Jags dropped to 14-8 overall and 6-4 in Sun Belt play, while the Warhawks improved to 6-17 on the season and 2-8 in conference play. 

After trailing throughout Thursday night, the Jaguars made a ferocious comeback with 10 minutes remaining and took the lead at the 5:27 mark off a flurry of big-time buckets from Judah Brown, but the Jags couldn't find a way to sustain a lead down the stretch. 

Brown fueled the Jaguars offense throughout the night, scoring 21 points on 8-of-14 from the floor with four three-pointers and three rebounds. JJ Wheat chipped in 12 points with three steals and three rebounds, Cantia Rahming finished with nine points, and John Broom scored five points and grabbed 10 rebounds. 

For the second straight game, the Jags struggled to find consistency offensively, shooting 20 percent (5-25) from behind the arc and 53.8 percent (7-13) from the free throw line.

"It was a tough one," head coach Richie Riley said. " I thought we were good enough on the glass and defensively, but we can't find a basket right now. We're trying everything, and I thought we got good looks and can't make things happen. When you're 22 games in you feel like you have a good sample size of what you're going to be, and we're a different team with our confidence offensively. It's tough because we aren't playing very well, but I love these guys, and we have to find a way to win these games." 

ULM came out hot, owning a 7-2 lead heading into the under 16-minute media timeout.

South bounced back and took a 13-12 advantage with 10:19 left on the clock after Brown knocked down two three-pointers and a layup near the rim. 

The Warhawks answered with three triples on their next four possessions to regain the lead and give them a 22-12 at the 7:59 mark. 

The Jags cut the deficit to five points with under a minute remaining in the first half, but ULM stayed on top and hit a three-pointer with seconds left to hold a 34-26 at halftime. 

Louisiana-Monroe continued to find opportunities coming out of the half and held a double-digit lead 46-33 at the 14:42 mark. 

South Alabama found a response and slingshot out on a 19-5 run highlighted by several buckets from Brown and two layups from Wheat off steals in the backcourt to take a 52-51 advantage with 5:28 remaining in the game. 

Brown wasn't finished there and hit another three-pointer as well as a circus shot-and-one jumper to tie the game at 58-58 with 1:46 left. 

The Jags had two more opportunities to take the lead back, but ULM scored a fastbreak layup and two free throws to put South away. 

Notes

• South Alabama had a lot of production from its bench players, who tallied 42 points compared to 16 from its starters. 
• Brown has knocked down two or more three-pointers in 15 games this season. 
• The Jags won the rebounding battle 40-37 and controlled the paint, scoring 34 points compared to 22 from ULM. 
• Broom logged his second game this season with 10 rebounds or more. 

Up Next 

South Alabama will hit the road to take on Louisiana on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. CT. 

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