The men’s basketball team have dropped their last two games sending their record to an even 2-2 on the season. But, while the two teams they fell to were part of the power five conferences, the Warhawks seemed to hold their own against them.

The first stop on a five game road trip for ULM came on Monday, Nov. 12, when the Warhawks faced off against the Texas Longhorns in Austin. Coming off of two back-to-back victories, ULM boasted a 2-0 record and looked ready to keep the streak alive.

Despite the Longhorns participating in the NCAA Tournament and appearing in their respected postseason last season, the Warhawks were able to hold their own. ULM was short handed however, with their leading scorer Daishon Smith out with a hamstring injury. 

The Warhawks led the Longhorns for almost nine minutes in the first half of play. Jumping out to a 9-3 lead backed by Travis Munning’s 7 point opening act, the Warhawks took the lead early on. However, Texas managed to put together a 12-point run after this to give them the seven-point lead. It wasn’t long though before ULM was right back in it. With an 11-point run of their own, The Warhawks worked their way back on top.

This back and forth battled continued over the whole first half. In fact, the Warhawks trailed by a single point entering the locker room at halftime, 30-39.

The great play from ULM continued into the second half, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to hold off the Longhorns as they fell 65-55. Michael Ertle led the team in scoring with 16 points while knocking down two three-pointers of his own. Junior forward, Andre Washington led the Warhawks in rebounds with eight.

Next up for ULM was the number eleven ranked Michigan St. Spartans. Everyone knew that winning this game for the Warhawks would be no easy task, but something you couldn’t put past them. With Smith still out with an injury though it would be an uphill battle.

The Warhawks played a good first half of basketball with the Spartans trailing by only six points at halftime, 35-29.

The team seemed to slow down in the second half though as Michigan St. pulled away with the lead.

Junior guard, JD Williams, led the Warhawks with a career-high 25 points, including three three-point shots. Ertle also had a big game putting up a season-high of 20 points including two three-pointers of his own. Munnings and Washington were able to come up big on the defensive end both posting double digit boards in the rebound column.   

However, the good play from the Warhawks wasn’t enough to scrape by the Spartans in the end, falling 80-59.

ULM will get a much needed nine-day break before heading to their next road destination. The Warhawks will face off against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

The Warhawks should have a good game against the Eagles who have not won a game on the season yet.

The game is set to tip off on Friday, Nov. 23 at 6 p.m. in Hooper Eblen Center in Cookeville, Tennessee.