Warhawks fall to McNeese State 82-63

A malfunctioning scoreboard extended the halftime intermission. Even with the longer rest break for the Warhawks, they couldn't overcome the hot shooting of the McNeese State Cowboys, as they coasted to their second consecutive win in Fant-Ewing Coliseum, 82 - 63.

"Right now our team is not very good, we are not good enough to out talent teams," Head Coach Orlando Early said following the game. "We just got totally beat by a pretty good team."

McNeese exploded in the first half for 48% shooting from the floor, and 80% from beyond the three-point arc. The offensive explosion continued in the second half, as they finished the game 50.9% and 75% respectively.

"I feel that they shot the ball well, but we gave them confidence. As a coach I have to get my team ready in practice to defend and pressure the ball," Early said of his team's performance.

The teams went back and forth during the first four minutes of the game, but then the Cowboys began pulling away as Junior Guard Diego Kapelan connected on a pair of three pointers to give McNeese a seven point lead. The lead was further extended to 10 points on Senior John Pichon's six first half points, and a serious scoring drought for the Warhawks that went in excess of four minutes, allowing the visitors to build a 21 point lead.

Junior Kenny Averette provided the top first half highlight, as he connected on a three pointer from the tail of the mid-court Warhawk to cut the McNeese lead to 18 points, 42-24.

In the second half, things didn't get any better for the Warhawks, as they continued to have shooting woes, finishing the game without scoring in the final 1:41 of the contest. ULM did show improvements though, as they limited the turnovers to 15, and collected eight steals on the night. A high number of fouls called by the officials though allowed both teams to have inflated points off the bench numbers, with the Cowboys collecting 35, and ULM getting 34.

Junior Jarvis Hill again led the Warhawks in scoring, for the third straight game, as he poured in 18 points. McNeese was led by Kapelan with 16.

Senior Tony Hooper scored a season low three points, but those points were enough to move him into 15th place in ULM all-time career scoring. Hooper now needs just 34 more points to over take Michael Saulsberry for 14th place.

A rematch between these two teams will happen in December, as ULM will travel to Lake Charles to face McNeese again on the 13th.

"I 'm not looking forward to getting this win back (when we play them in Lake Charles), I'm just looking forward to practicing and getting better," Early said.

The Warhawks will continue their brief home stand, as they will play host to Stephen F. Austin on Tuesday, November 25th with tip-off in Fant-Ewing Coliseum scheduled for 7pm.