The ULM men’s basketball team earned its third win in five tries Tuesday night with a 76-66 decision over Grambling State.
Lawrence Gilbert led three Warhawks in double figures with a season-high 18 points before a crowd of 2,876 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Dynile Forbes added 17 and Rudy Turner scored 14 with seven rebounds for ULM.
The two teams were meeting for the first time since 1999. The game produced four technical fouls, with calls against Grambling’s George Akpele and Ariece Perkis, along with ULM’s Tommie Sykes and Gilbert.
The Warhawks led 39-26 at halftime and by as many as 19 points with 13:15 left in the game.
“We sometimes play down to our level of competition,” Gilbert said. “Grambling played well tonight. They gave it everything they’ve got. I respect the effort. They came with it. But we’ve got to keep playing.”
ULM shot 48.8 percent overall and 44.4 percent on 3-point attempts. Grambling shot 35.1 percent overall and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc. The Tigers made 15 turnovers as ULM recorded 10 steals.
The Warhawks return to action Friday with a 7 p.m. game at Centenary. ULM’s next home game is Wednesday, Dec. 2 against Louisiana Tech.
Loose balls: ULM product Kenny Natt, a Bastrop native and longtime NBA assistant coach, attended the game and visited the Warhawks’ locker room afterward. … Fabio Ribeiro (toe) sat out his fourth straight game. … Freshman Colby Carr brought a spark off the bench with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor, including his first career 3-pointer. … Gilbert’s four assists are a career high. … Turner tied a career high with five of ULM’s 21 turnovers. Sykes also had five turnovers in the game.