Southern men shut down ULM

MONROE, Louisiana — Southern entered Louisiana-Monroe’s Fant-Ewing Coliseum with a losing record. But by the end of Thursday night’s game, the Jaguars looked more like an all-star team.

The Jaguars beat ULM 68-39 for their third straight win with some no-look passes, 3-pointer after 3-pointer and a defense that limited the Warhawks to 25 percent shooting.

“Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships,” Southern coach Roman Banks said. “That’s what I constantly tell this team. I think we have some athletic guys, and I think defensively we use our athleticism more than offensively.”

Southern (4-5) dictated most of the game, but it did allow ULM (1-5) to creep back midway through the first half after the Jaguars built a six-point lead in the first seven minutes.

The Warhawks strung together a 16-5 run, including seven straight points in the course of a minute and a half to take a 19-14 lead with 8:23 left in the half.

Southern center Madut Bol came off the bench, and his 3-pointer after ULM extended its five-point lead ignited a 15-2 run as the Jaguars rode a 32-21 lead into halftime. Ten of Southern’s 15 points during the run came from senior guard Derick Beltran, who led all players with 26.

READ MORE