MONROE, La. -- Travis Munnings scored 15 of his 26 points in the first half as Louisiana-Monroe took over late in the first period to beat Texas State 79-71 on Saturday for its fourth straight Sun Belt Conference win.

With the victory Louisiana-Monroe (13-12, 7-7) jumps ahead of Texas State into sixth place in the conference standings.

Munnings drained 5 of 11 from distance. Michael Ertel added 19 points while dishing out five assists and Marvin Jean-Pierre had 14 points with four assists and two steals. Jordan Harris contributed 12 points.

Texas State took an early lead before ULM closed out the first half on a 14-2 run to go ahead 37-31 at the break. The Warhawks carried the momentum into the second half, hitting 71 percent of their field goals to lead 66-51 with 7:35 left in the game.

ULM finished 30-of-54 shooting (56 percent) from floor, nailing 11 of 25 from long range.

Texas State, which rallied late, made 6 of 22 from beyond the arc.

Immanuel King and Nijal Pearson had 22 and 17 points respectively for the Bobcats (14-14, 7-8) who have lost five straight games.