The Warhawks quietly dominated Division II Henderson State in an exhibition at Faint-Ewing Coliseum on Thursday, winning the exhibition 90-63.
ULM’s Travis Munnings led both teams in scoring with an efficient 26 points on 10-16 shooting, including one three-pointer and five of six made free throws.
The Warhawks were attacked early as the Reddies started out hot leading the Warhawks 27-21 with 7:58 left in the first half.
The Warhawks would respond in the first half that included two ties and ten lead changes, ending the first half on a 14-2 run going into up ten, 43-33.
ULM’s first half was successful due to its 5-9 shooting from deep and Munnings’ solid 15 points.
““It was a good exhibition game for us because Henderson State challenged us early, and we had to compete and kind of figure things out along the way,” ULM head basketball coach Keith Richard said. “I liked the way our team responded late in the first half.”
Head Coach Richard also credited the Reddies.
“Henderson State is going to have a nice (NCAA) Division II team this year. That team is well coached by Jimmy Elgas. His team really wore us down with its half-court offense in the first half,” Richard said.
The second half, though, would be a different story with ULM extending its lead all the way to 30 right before the final buzzer.
The Warhawks outscored the Reddies 47-30 in the second half.
A quartet of double-digit scorers including Munnings from ULM helped with the scoring barrage. Senior guard and transfer from Wichita State, Daishon Smith scored 15 points and led the team in rebounds with seven.
Sophomore guard and reigning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, Michael Ertel dropped in 14 of his own. Guard Jontray Harris rounded out the quartet with 11 of his own, leading the bench unit in scoring.
Coach Richard was especially impressed with Munnings and Smith.
“Travis Munnings plays very hard and does a little bit of everything. Travis got some buckets inside the 3-point line for us when we really needed a lift,” Richard said.
“Daishon Smith is a good player. He’s been hampered a little this week by a foot injury. His conditioning is a little off kilter because he only practiced about half this week. But you can see he’s a scorer with great quickness. Daishon is going to be a nice addition to our lineup this year.”
Henderson State had two scorers in double figures as sophomore guard Chris Parker scored 14 and sophomore Raekwon Rogers netted 12.
The Warhawks had a good day from both the field and from three, shooting 54 percent and 38 percent respectively. The free throw line was a bit of a struggle though, shooting 64 percent, making 18 of 28.
The Warhawks open up regular season play on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at Jackson State.