For the third straight time, South Alabama raced out to a huge early lead and won a Sun Belt Conference basketball game.

The Jaguars held on to beat Louisiana-Monroe 72-64 on Saturday in Monroe, getting a season-high 31 points from guard Isaiah Moore. South Alabama (11-13, 5-7 Sun Belt) led 20-8 midway through the first half, 34-25 at halftime and by as many as 20 in the second half.

“Our guys found a way to get a road sweep, which is huge this time of year,” said South Alabama coach Richie Riley, whose team won 82-62 at Arkansas State on Saturday. “It felt like we had moments where we played really well, and then we had some times where we didn’t play quite good enough. But, we led tip to finish and were able to finish the job on the road against a good team. They are one of the top five teams in our league right now. It’s always hard to come and win here, but our guys really responded, you know. They did an unbelievable job on the glass as a committee.”

ULM (11-14, 7-5) got hot from the outside in the final minutes, but never got closer than six. Jamar Blackston scored 23 points for the Warhawks, including 17 in the second half.

South Alabama did not make a field goal in the final 4:04 of the game, but the Jaguars made 10 free throws in the last 2:05 to thwart the ULM comeback. USA made 16 of 21 free throws in the game, 13 of 15 in the second half.

Tyrell Jones scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds for South Alabama, while Judah Brown had 11 and six. The Jaguars made just four 3-pointers, but Brown made three of them.

Moore’s point total was the most by a South Alabama player since Michael Flowers scored 34 vs. ULM in the 2021 Sun Belt tournament opener. Moore, who reached the 20-point mark for the 10th time this season, is now averaging 18.9 points per game.

Tyreke Locure, who played two seasons at South Alabama before spending last year at UAB, scored 15 points for ULM. The Warhawks were outrebounded 37-30 and shot just 39% from the floor to 46% for South Alabama.

South Alabama stays on the road Thursday, traveling to Troy for a 7:15 p.m. tip. The Jaguars beat the Trojans in Mobile 77-60 on Jan. 28.