Late scoring drought sinks ULM in home loss to Georgia State, 73-62

By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

MONROE La. – ULM faded late and fell 73-62 to Georgia State Saturday at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Warhawks (10-12, 2-8 Sun Belt) lost their fourth-straight game overall and fifth straight at home.

ULM shot well early and led briefly in the second half before wilting down the stretch. The Warhawks went 5:37 without scoring until Thomas Howell made a free throw with 1:50 to halt a pivotal 11-0 run by Georgia State.

“There was a lot of fatigue going on,” ULM coach Keith Richard said. “I know it, I saw it. We had to play as big as we could at the three, four and five to try to rebound the best we could. They had 15 offensive rebounds and it was hard to get a defensive rebound. That’s why we stuck with those guys so much.

“And we had to play Koreem (Ozier) and Andre (Jones) out there practically the whole game because they’re our only two ball handlers who can bring the ball up the floor.”

Nika Metskhvarishvili led ULM with 16 points. Howell added 15 points as the Warhawks shot 50 percent from the floor but were undone by lengthy scoring droughts.

Georgia State (8-9, 2-4 Sun Belt) outscored ULM, 27-14, on points off turnovers and 22-6 on second-chance points. The Panthers pulled down 15 offensive rebounds and benefitted from 17 ULM turnovers.

“Their size wore us down,” Richard said. “That led into a scoring drought with the fatigue out there, and that’s what they needed to stretch it out.”

Georgia State led 39-35 at halftime after a back-and-forth first 20 minutes that featured nine lead changes, five ties and hot shooting by both teams. The Warhawks shot 58 percent and Georgia State 57 percent before the break.

Howell was active early, scoring six of ULM’s first 11 points and leading the Warhawks with 11 at halftime.

ULM led 46-43 with 16:06 remaining in the game, but Georgia State responded with a 17-6 run to build its cushion to 60-52. The Warhawks made five turnovers and went 2:39 without scoring during the stretch as the deficit grew.

Corey Allen’s fifth 3-pointer with 6:07 left in the game increased the visitor’s lead to 65-56. The Warhawks missed five-straight shots during a 9-0 run as the Panthers built a 15-point lead.

Allen and Kane William scored 18 points each to lead Georgia State in scoring. Eliel Nsoseme scored 13 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Allen made six of his team’s nine 3-pointers.

“I think the first thing we need to do is take tomorrow off and regroup,” said Richard, whose team has eight regular-season games remaining. “There’s a lot of emotions right now with our team because we haven’t won and it’s been tough with the homestand. Regroup with them Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and see if we can’t clear the cobwebs of these past two weeks and go on the road to see if we can steal one.”

Up next: ULM visits Arkansas State on Thursday, Feb. 3. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

Tail feathers: Elijah Gonzalez (bruised knee) was out of the lineup in street clothes and watching from the ULM bench for Saturday’s game. … West Monroe (La.) product Langston Powell made his seventh start for ULM this season … The Warhawks had 11 assists and 11 turnovers at halftime. … Georgia State leads the series with ULM 11-8 after its latest win.