Arkansas State withstood a Warhawk comeback bid to hold onto a 70-68 win.

The loss puts ULM at 18-9 on the year with a 12-4 record in the Sun Belt. That pushes the Warhawks into a tie with Georgia Southern and Georgia State atop the conference. ULM will host Georgia State March 5 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

The Warhawks were forced to attempt to climb out of a 65-54 hole late in the second half. ULM would tie the game with just 10 second left. Arkansas State found an open man to score with 5.5 seconds left. That would be the final bucket.

Head Coach Keith Richard said he was pleased by the comeback effort, but disappointed in the game.

“It was a nice comeback but in general, for the whole game they outplayed us. They out-toughed us and really deserved to win the game,” he said.

The Warhawks got a career-high in points from sophomore Nick Coppola. Coppola had 19 points, 15 of which came on three-pointers.

Tylor Ongwae led the Warhawks in scoring with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds. Ongwae and Coppola both played 40 minutes.

Arkansas State got a big effort from guard Frederic Dure. Dure went 9-of-10 from the field including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. He finished with a game-high 22 points. Cameron Golden, Anthony Livingston and Kelvin Downs rounded out the Red Wolves in double-digits.

ULM was held to a lowly 34.3 percent shooting in the second half of the game. The Warhawks finished at 41.5 percent while Arkansas State recorded a 45.3 percent clip.

Richard said that the team missed too many shots at the rim to win the game. He also added that the team needed to play better defensively.

“We’re supposed to be a good defensive team but it didn’t look like it tonight,” he said.

The win moves Arkansas State to 10-15 record with a 5-11 conference mark.

The Warhawks will now focus on a meeting with South Alabama Thursday. The team will then travel to Boone, North Carolina to face off with Appalachian State.