Box Score MONROE – Marcelis Hansberry came off the bench to score five of his 16 points in overtime and Louisiana-Monroe rallied from a nine-point deficit to defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 68-61, in a non-conference game Monday night at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
R.J. McCray scored a game-high 17 points for ULM (1-4), which made 9 of 10 free throws in the extra session and snapped a six-game losing streak to Southeastern (1-6) dating back to the 2002-03 season. Trent Mackey added 14 points – all after halftime – for the Warhawks while Jayon James posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Southeastern trailed 6-4 early in the first half before eight straight points by
Brandon Fortenberry gave the Lions a 12-6 lead with 12:57 remaining in the first half. After a basket by McCray cut the Southeastern lead to 22-21 at the 4:33 mark, the Lions closed out the half with an 11-3 run capped by a
Jeffery Ricard basket with four seconds remaining.
After being held to 7-for-24 (29 percent) in the first half, ULM quickly cut into the lead as Mackey drained a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by McCray got the Warhawks to within 33-29 with 19:05 remaining. The Lions would push their lead to 42-34 on a basket by
Roosevelt Johnson with 13:34 remaining, but ULM countered with a three-point play by James and a 3-pointer by Mackey to close the gap to 42-40 at the 12:38 mark.
A jumper by Trey Lindsey with 8:36 remaining gave ULM a 45-44 lead and the Warhawks pushed their lead to 49-44 on a putback by James with 6:31 remaining.
From there, the teams went through four ties and a pair of lead changes before buckets by Mackey and McCray gave ULM a 59-55 lead with 48 seconds left.
Johnson, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 18 rebounds, cut the deficit to 59-57 on the Lions' next possession before he tipped in a Fortenberry miss with 0.7 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
But Southeastern went 0-for-8 from the floor in the extra session as ULM took the lead for good, 63-61, on a pair of free throws by Hansberry with 2:29 remaining.
Ricard scored a season-high 24 points to lead Southeastern while Fortenberry added 12. The Lions, who held a 44-35 advantage on the glass, finished 24-for-66 (36 percent) from the floor in the game and 3-for-16 (19 percent) from behind the 3-point line.
Southeastern will return to action on Sunday when it travels to face North Texas in a 1 p.m. contest.
