LITTLE ROCK — Daylon Guy’s jumper over the outstretched arm of Illinois State’s Austin Hill seemed the very picture of an ill-advised three-point attempt on Sunday afternoon at the Stephens Center.
Guy, a 6-0 freshman guard, toppled backward as the ball left his hands. It rattled the rim before falling through, one of three 3-pointers Guy made in the second half of UALR’s 63-54 victory over Illinois State.
“Once he hit those shots,” guard Solomon Bozeman said. “It got everybody going.”
Guy’s 11 consecutive points over a four-minute span boosted the Trojans in front of an announced crowd of 2,532 as they outscored the Redbirds 17-8 after Illinois State cut a 13-point first-half deficit to 34-31 in the second half.
“We think we’re a little tougher,” UALR Coach Steve Shields said of the Trojans’ emerging mettle. “That hasto stay a trademark with this team. As I told them in there, we can’t get fat and full of ourselves.”
That calloused persona showed in the game’s first 10 minutes, a stretch during which UALR (3-1) built on a 19-6 lead.
Illinois State forward Jackie Carmichael, the Redbirds’ leading scorer, was limited to 6 points on 3 of 8 shooting, while the rest of his frontcourt mates went 5 of 18 and managed seven second-chance points despite outrebounding UALR
Forward Marlon Louzeiro, who finished with 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting, spurred UALR’s early run with a three from the top of the key and two baseline jumpers while Illinois State missed its first seven shots.
Sports, Pages 20 on 11/22/2010