Louisiana-Monroe holds off Little Rock for 48-44 win

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MONROE, La. (AP) Marvin Jean-Pierre drained a trey in the final minutes to give Louisiana-Monroe just enough cushion to hold off Little Rock 48-44 on Thursday night.

Michael Ertel followed Jean-Pierre's 3 with a jumper for a 44-38 advantage before Anthony Black and Oliver Black scored six straight points to tie at 44-44 with 1:54 left. Ertel, Sam McDaniel and Brandon Newman combined to make 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. Little Rock failed to score after Oliver Black's final jumper.

Travis Munnings scored 21 points to lead ULM (15-13, 9-8) which is battling for the coveted No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Warhawks are tied with Troy and UT Arlington for fourth place with one game remaining before the tournament starts on March 7.

The Warhawks led 19-18 at halftime as neither team could get shots to fall with Little Rock making eight from the floor compared to seven for the Warhawks. ULM was 4 of 22 from distance. Travis Munnings scored over half the ULM points in the first half, making 4 of 9 field goals for 11 points. He was 2 of 7 from beyond the arc.

Oliver Black led Little Rock (6-24, 3-14) with seven points and nine rebounds as no Trojan hit double figures.