GAME NOTES: The semifinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament concludes Saturday with a matchup featuring the third-seeded ULM Warhawks taking on the second-seeded Georgia Southern Eagles at New Orleans Lakefront Arena.

The winner advances to the conference title match, where the league's champion will be crowned and sent to the NCAA Tournament by way of an automatic bid.

ULM cruised to victory on Friday over South Alabama, 77-59, in the quarterfinal round. The win was the second in a row for the Warhawks going back to the regular season.

Georgia Southern earned an automatic double-bye all the way into the semifinal round of the conference tournament after finishing with a 14-6 mark in league play, earning the team the second seed. The Eagles, however, had lost two of their last three games headed into the postseason.

ULM and Georgia Southern met twice during the regular season, as the two parties split the series. The Warhawks dropped a close 57-53 contest to the Eagles at home late in January, but then won a 71-68 overtime battle in Statesboro just a few weeks after their first meeting.

ULM ran to a 10-point halftime lead over South Alabama on Friday, and was able to cruise to victory over the Jaguars. Majok Deng tallied a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while DeMondre Harvey added a double-double of his own with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tylor Ongwae led the Warhawks with 17 points, and Nick Coppola chipped in 12 in the win.

The Warhawks are searching for their first Sun Belt Conference title in program history, but have to go through Georgia Southern first to reach the championship match. In the team's overtime win over the Eagles back on Feb. 7, Ongwae netted 19 points to pace the Warhawks, while Jamaal Samuel added 17 points.

Georgia Southern took on Georgia State in the regular-season finale to determine the league champion, and it was the Panthers that came away with a convincing 72-55 victory to earn the top seed. Jelani Hewitt scored 17 to pace the Eagles in the loss, while Trent Wiedeman netted 15 points. This is Georgia Southern's first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, and therefore the team's first-ever Sun Belt Tournament contest.

Hewitt finished the regular season as the team's leading scorer, and ranked third in the Sun Belt Conference behind Georgia State's two stars in Ryan Harrow and R.J. Hunter, with 18.2 ppg. Wiedeman was the only other GSU player to average a double-digit scoring figure during the season at 11.8 ppg for an Eagles squad averaging 70.1 ppg. In the latest meeting between the semifinalist programs, Georgia Southern was paced by Hewitt's 14 points and seven rebounds. The Eagles connected on 42.1 percent of their shots from the floor.

Georgia Southern was well-rounded in its first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, finishing with an above-average offense and a strong scoring defense. The Eagles should be able to reach the title bout if they can play a well-rounded contest.