South Alabama up Next For Cajuns; ULM Wins

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns will face #8 seed South Alabama in the second round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans.  South Alabama defeated #9 Arkansas State 75-67 at the Mitchell Center in Mobile.

ULM  also advanced to the second round, as the Warhawks defeated Appalachian State 89-80.  The #7 Warhawks will meet #6 Coastal Carolina Thursday night at 7:30 at the UNO Lakefront Arena.

SOUTH ALABAMA 75, ARKANSAS STATE 67--South Alabama (16-16) trailed by three points at halftime and by six in the second half, but went on a 20-6 run to get some breathing room in getting the win.

During the run, the Jags broke a 47-47 tie with a 10-2 run to take a 57-49 lead and extended the lead to 13 points with 6:01 to play.

Josh Ajayi had 22 points and nine rebounds, while Kory Holden had 20 off the bench.  Trhae Mitchell had 13 points, a career high 13 rounds and eight blocked shots, narrowly missing a triple double.

Ty Cockfield had 21 for Arkansas State (13-19).  Grantham Gillard had 12 points and ten rebounds.

ULM 89, APPALACHIAN STATE 80--In Monroe, The Warhawks (17-14) opened up an early 17-4 lead and led 42-36 at the half.  App State (11-21) fought back and had a three point lead, 66-63 with 11:29 to play.  But ULM then went on a 14-1 run to take a ten point lead and the Mountaineers never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Travis Munnings, playing in his final home game, had 21 points and 12 rebounds to pace ULM.  Daishon Smith, Michael Ertel and J. D. Williams each added 16 points for the Warhawks, with Smith dishing out nine assists.

Sophomore guard Justin Forrest tied his career high with 32 points for Appalachian State.  Ronshad Shabazz, who scored 47 points the last time the two teams played, was held to just eleven points.