The crowd of 3,543 at the Jack Stephens Center reached its loudest with three minutes remaining in the first half Thursday night.
That's when UALR forward Lis Shoshi faked a defender on the perimeter and drove through the lane for a one-handed dunk to put an exclamation point on a decisive first-half run.
The Trojans rode that surge to an 81-55 victory over Appalachian State, which was a program-best ninth in a row at the Stephens Center. The victory kept them among three unbeaten teams in the Sun Belt Conference.
Coach Chris Beard wanted more fluid offense than Saturday's 58-57 victory over Louisiana-Monroe, and he got his wish as the Trojans (15-1, 5-0) shot 51.4 percent from the field in the first half and scored 21 points over the final six minutes of the half.
"I think we were much better than the last game, but we can still improve a lot," said Shoshi, who scored all 12 of his points in the first half. "This is nothing. Our potential is much better than this."
A lingering need for improvement was evident in the second half, when UALR built as much as a 26-point lead in the final minutes but fell into shooting lulls. Appalachian State (3-13, 1-4) -- coming off of a victory that snapped a nine-game losing skid -- never got closer than 52-39 with 16:11 left, but there were areas Beard and his players think they can clean up.
UALR shot 34.4 percent in the second half, but kept the lead healthy by making 11 of 13 free throws and holding Appalachian State to 20.8 percent shooting in the second half. The Trojans won their 15th game before Feb. 1 for the first time since 2009 and will head into Monday's game at rival Arkansas State in at least a tie for first place in the Sun Belt.
"You're always striving for 40 minutes of good basketball, and you never quite get there," Beard said. "I think we played about 30 minutes as well as we could, but it's where those 10 minutes were -- the difference between being good and great is very difficult."
The Trojans built their lead by getting easy baskets off turnovers or by working the ball inside. They scored 18 points in the paint in the first half and 19 off 11 Appalachian State turnovers. In addition to Shoshi's 12 points, six other players had at least five by halftime.
Jalen Jackson had eight points in the first half and finished with 16 in 22 minutes. Roger Woods came off the bench to also finish with 16 points, while two others had at least seven. Eleven players scored in all for the Trojans.
"What really gets me going is if I score a couple of baskets early," Jackson said. "If I don't, then it's going to be a long night."
Jackson hit a jumper four minutes into the game and then scored inside while being fouled a minute later. Beard liked how Jackson scored his points but also enjoyed his 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
"We all know he's got a talent to score the ball, but it's all these other areas -- passing, defense, screening -- that can help our team so much," Beard said.
UALR held Appalachian State to 29.2 percent shooting for the game and held the Sun Belt's leading scorer to just one field goal.
Guard Frank Eaves entered Thursday averaging a conference-best 20.2 points per game. He hit an open three-pointer from the left wing for the game's first points, but he missed his remaining seven shots from the field and had to get his other eight points from the free-throw line. His 11 points in 24 minutes were both season lows in Sun Belt games.
Like everything else UALR did, Beard said it was a team effort.
"One person can't guard a guy like him; he's too talented," Beard said. "So we talked a lot about constantly getting into the gaps and constantly having two or three sets of eyes on him, and I thought for the most part we did a good job."
Sports on 01/15/2016