Louisiana-Monroe holds on to beat S. Alabama 67-61

MONROE, La. (AP) Tylor Ongwae had a double-double, 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, as Louisiana-Monroe streaked to an early lead and then held on to beat South Alabama 67-61 in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday.

Majok Deng finished with 17 points and Nick Coppola added 15 for Louisiana-Monroe (14-8, 8-3), which never trailed.

The Warhawks jumped out to a 20-7 lead and were up 32-18 at the break. South Alabama fought back in the second half and closed to 45-42 when John Brown nailed a 3-pointer with 8:29 remaining. Justin Roberson answered with a three-point play and the Warhawks held on for the win.

ULM is off to its best conference start since the 2006-07 season and is a half game out of first place in the Sun Belt.

Ken Williams had 23 points and Dionte Ferguson added 18 for South Alabama (7-15, 5-6).