ULM stages rally from double-digit deficit but drops heartbreaker at App State, 85-84

BOONE, N.C. – Justin Forrest scored a season-high 32 points and Hunter Seacat blocked a potential game-winning lay-up attempt in the closing seconds as Appalachian State defeated ULM, 85-84, Saturday (Feb. 2). It marked the Mountaineers’ third-straight Sun Belt Conference win.

There were eight ties and three lead changes in the first half. Michael Ertel scored seven consecutive points as ULM jumped out to an 11-3 lead on his 3-pointer from the left wing with 16:57 left in the opening half. Forrest accounted for 16 points during a 19-6 run as App State took a 22-17 lead with 12:47 remaining. The Warhawks answered with a 13-5 spurt and built a 30-27 lead on JD Williams’ layup off a steal by Travis Munnings with 8:58 to play. ULM went scoreless for the final 2:47, while the Mountaineers scored the last six points of the half and took a 46-40 advantage to the locker room.

Forrest connected on 7-of-8 first-half field-goal attempts, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, to account for 22 of App State’s 46 points. As a team, the Mountaineers shot 61 percent (17-of-28) from the floor, including 7-of-13 from behind the 3-point arc.

App State (8-14, 3-6 Sun Belt) opened the second half with a 7-0 run and built its largest lead at 53-40 on Ronshad Shabazz’s 3 from the right wing with 18:17 on the clock. Williams buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to spark a 14-6 spurt, and ULM (11-10, 4-5) cut its deficit to five at 59-54 on his layup with 12:48 remaining. Trailing 64-57, the Warhawks put together an 8-0 run and regained the lead at 65-64 as Williams converted 1-of-2 free-throw attempts with 9:46 to play. There were five ties and four lead changes over the final 10 1/2 minutes.

The Mountaineers outscored ULM, 10-4, over a 3:30 stretch and took an 83-77 lead on Tyrell Johnson’s trey from the left corner with 2:50 left. Ertel finished a traditional 3-point play and Williams added two free throws as the Warhawks pulled to within one at 83-82 with 2:05 remaining. With App State leading 85-84, Seacat missed the front end of a one-and-one with 11.8 seconds and ULM’s Andre Washington collected the rebound. In the closing seconds, Ertel drove the left side of the lane and his lay-up attempt was blocked by Seacat to preserve the one-point victory.

“Well, we played our hearts out,” ULM head coach Keith Richard said. “Unfortunately when you play your hearts out, it doesn’t always mean that you win. But we played our hearts out and that gave us a chance to win. The last two possessions we had the ball in our two guards’ hands (Daishon Smith and Michael Ertel) and that’s who we want handling it in that situation. We just came up short.

“We went to a 2-3 zone and that didn’t work, so we tried a 3-2 zone. As a result, we really spread out their offense, and it bothered them. They started standing around a little bit, and with the 3-2 zone, we were able to match-up a little bit better on the perimeter.

“We also played some good offense. Both JD Williams and Michael Ertel got going (offensively) in the second half, and they helped give us a chance to win. On the road, you want to get to the last 2-3 minutes and give yourself a chance to win. We had our chances to steal a win on the road, but we just came up a little short.

“I’m certainly proud of our effort,” Richard continued. “We had much better effort for 40 minutes this afternoon than we had on Thursday night (at Coastal Carolina). If we keep competing with this spirit, we’ll have plenty more opportunities to win games.”

Forrest hit 11-of-18 shots from the floor, including 6-of-9 3s, to lead a well-balanced scoring attack. The Mountaineers also got 13 points from Isaac Johnson, 12 from Shabazz and 11 each from Adrian Delph and Tyrell Johnson.

“(Justin) Forrest made some deep 3s … I mean really, really deep 3s,” Richard said. “We talked about Forrest and (Ronshad) Shabazz and the freedom they have on offense because they will shoot it from anywhere. Despite talking about it, I think they still surprised our guys how deep they were willing to take those 3s. We really had a hard time guarding them man-to-man. The 3-2 zone helped in that respect because we were able to get out there and contest some shots. When we didn’t extend out there far enough, they still made us pay. I recall Forrest hit a big one there late in the game.”

For the game, App State shot 56 percent (31-of-55) from the field, including 14-of-26 from 3-point range.

Ertel and Williams combined for 49 points to pace the Warhawks. Ertel, who made 10-of-16 field-goal attempts including 3-of-6 3-pointers, finished with a career-high 26 points. Williams, who scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half, went 8-of-12 from the field, including 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc, and matched his career high with three steals.

Daishon Smith added 11 points for ULM.

The Warhawks also executed at a high level offensively, hitting 29-of-55 field-goal attempts (53 percent) including 10-of-21 3s (48 percent). ULM outrebounded App State, 31-23, and held a 13-4 advantage in second-chance points.

ULM remains winless (0-4) on the road in Sun Belt play, but three of those losses have been decided one point (79-78 at Georgia Southern, 74-73 at Georgia State and 85-84 at App State).

Next week, the Warhawks open the second half of the Sun Belt schedule with a two-game homestand against Georgia State (Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.) and Georgia Southern (Friday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m.). ULM is 9-1 in games played in Fant-Ewing Coliseum this season while averaging 84.3 points per game.