Louisiana-Monroe 86, Louisiana College 51

12/19/2007 10:05 PM

MONROE, La. (AP) -Behind a career-high 14 points and 11 rebounds from junior Afam Nweke and 20-point performances by Tony Hooper and Jonas Brown, the University of Louisiana at Monroe men's basketball team cruised to an 86-51 win over Louisiana College on Wednesday.

Louisiana-Monroe (5-6) snapped a two-game losing streak, connecting on 49 percent of its shots while limiting Louisiana College (2-6) to 32 percent shooting.

The Warhawks trailed early, falling behind 8-0 in the game's first three minutes before knotting the score at 10 on a Nweke lay-up at the 12:16 mark.

The Wildcats regained their lead at 20-16 before the Warhawks' offense heated up. Led by six points from Nweke and Hooper, the Warhawks went on a 21-6 run over a seven-minute period to end the half and take a 37-26 advantage into intermission.

Louisiana-Monroe put the game out of reach early in the second half. Capped by Hooper's rim-rocking dunk, the Warhawks went on a 9-0 run to start the period and never looked back. They finished the second half by connecting on 56 percent of its shots. Brown finished with four of the Warhawks' 12 steals on the night.

Jordan Payne finished the game with 15 points to round out the Warhawks' double figure scoring.

Josh Johnson finished with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats.