JONESBORO (2/28/08) ? The Arkansas State men's basketball team closed out its regular-season with a 75-64 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Thursday night in a Sun Belt Conference West Division game at the Convocation Center.

A crowd of 6,651 watched the Indians complete a sweep of the season series against the Warhawks, also defeating ULM 89-82 at Fant-Ewing Coliseum earlier this year.  ASU snapped a nine-game skid, bringing its overall record to 10-19 and Sun Belt mark to 5-13.  ULM fell to 10-19 overall and 4-13 in league play.

ASU set the tone early, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead that it didn't relinquish the rest of the game.  Leading just 24-19, the Indians outscored the Warhawks 10-2 over the final three minutes to take a 34-21 halftime lead.

ULM cut its deficit to four points, 42-38, with 14:07 left in the game.  ASU extended its lead back to 15 points, tying its largest advantage of the game, with 5:07 remaining and led by double figures for all but 44 seconds of the remaining time.

“The guys have hung together this week and the effort was fabulous, particularly the defensive effort in the first half” said ASU Co-Interim Head Coach Al Grushkin.  “The team shared the ball well and played together tonight.”

Senior guard Adrian Banks scored at least 20 points for the second consecutive game, finishing with a game-high 23 points.  Sophomore guard Ryan Wedel added 20 points, marking the second time this season two ASU players scored at least 20 points in the same game.

Junior forward Yima Chia-Kur rounded out the ASU players with double-figure points, scoring 14.  Senior forward Kewain Gant led ASU on the boards with eight rebounds, but the Indians finished with just 27 rebounds to the Warhawks 33.

ULM also finished with a higher shooting percentage, .479 to .442, but had 19 turnovers that ASU turned into 23 points.

Three Louisiana-Monroe players finished with double-figure points, led by Tony Hooper with 15.  Raphelle Turner finished with 13 points and Jonas Brown added 11.