After a disapointing road loss to Sun Belt Conference opponent, the University of Louisiana-Monroe, last Wednesday, the Pioneer men’s basketball team is not carrying much momentum heading into this week’s SBC tournament.

Despite a competitive first half, in which both teams struggled to score points, the Pioneers only trailed by six points.

Then, after senior guard DaShawn Walker scored on a lay-up to start the second half, it looked as though the Pioneers could get back into the game.

Unfortunately, that was not the case for the Pioneers, as ULM went on a scoring run to put DU in a hole that they could not get out of.

The Pioneers ended up losing the game by a dismal 87-51 score.

Senior guard Alex Cox led the Pioneers in scoring with only 11 points. Fellow senior Antonio Porch chipped in 10 while grabbing six rebounds.

The Pioneers will now have to go back to Louisiana to face ULM again this Wednesday in the first round of the SBC tournament, where they will hope for a different outcome.

“We took it too lightly,” said Porch about his team’s play Wednesday against a team that the Pioneers had beaten at home on Jan. 6 by a 75-65 margin.

“We need to do what we did in the first game,” said Porch. “We need to come in with that intensity and execute our game.”

The Pioneers earned the 13th seed in the SBC tournament because of their 4-24 season record that includes a dismal 3-15 in the SBC.

Earning the top seed in the tournament is the University of South Alabama.

The Pioneers will hope to earn a win in Wednesday night’s first round game, to be able to move on to the quarterfinals in Lafayette, La.