LITTLE ROCK — A three-second sequence in the second half of UALR’s 74-65 victory over Louisiana Tech on Friday in front of 2,336 fans at the Jack Stephens Center illustrated a key component in the philosophy of UALR basketball Coach Steve Shields: Every man boxes out and rebounds in space.
UALR guard Alex Garcia-Mendoza grabbed an off-target Matt Mouzy jumper for a put-back basket on the left side of the lane at the Stephens Center and Louisiana Tech guard Brandon Gibson slammed into his right shoulder for the foul.
“You’ve always got to have your teammates’ back,” said Garcia Mendoza, who scored 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 7 rebounds. “It’s a good shot, and he’s a great shooter. I was just trying to get the rebound and put it in.”
Garcia-Mendoza’s free throw completed the threepoint play, with 7:35 to play, giving the Trojans a 49-46 in a game that started out looking like a Louisiana Tech route.
UALR made 14.6 percent of its shots in the first half and trailed 29-22 at halftime. But a smaller four-guard lineup made the difference in the second half, stretching the floor and knifing into the paint off the dribble, creating layups and open looks after kick-out passes.
The Trojans (4-2) outscored the Bulldogs 14-4 in the first five minutes of the second half, led by senior shooting guard Soloman Bozeman, who scored 7 of his team-high 23 points during the stretch.
Garcia-Mendoza gave UALR its first lead at 32-31 when he collected a pass from D’Andre Williams on the left wing for a pull-up three at the 16:58-mark after forward Derrick Bails swatted away a layup by Olu Ashaolu at the other end.
“When we took the lead, we knew we were in control,” Bozeman said. “All we had to do was just defend and rebound and we’d get the win.”
That UALR was even in a position to take the lead was surprising after the game’s opening 10 minutes.
Louisiana Tech (5-2) led 23-9 and the Trojans fought through two five-minute stretches without a field goal. Yet, Shields said the Trojans execution in the half court was sound, spacing wasn’t cramped and shot-selection wasn’t bad.
“Some nights you’re not going to shoot it well,” Shields said. “We shared the ball, unlike at times against Oral Roberts, when I thought we needed to make the extra pass but didn’t. That wasn’t the case tonight at all.”
Louisiana Tech guard De-Andre Brown, who scored a game-high 24 points on 8 of 18shooting to go with 5 assists, rejected ball screens to freelance as slithered into the lane for an early layup, knocked down two three-pointers and served as the focal point of the Trojans early woes.
“They were driving aggressively,” Garcia said. ‘We just needed to jump to the ball and talk more on defense. That’s what we tried to do and adjust.”
Shots still didn’t fall, but the Trojans’ smaller lineup outscored the Bulldogs 11-4, mostly at the foul line, where they scored nine points, to pare the deficit to 29-22 at halftime
And Bozeman said shifting to lighter-and-leaner lineup was the difference offensively in the second half.
“We’ve got guards who can get in the lane” Bozeman said. “When he told us that’s what we’re going to run, it just brought a smile to my face.”
That did not stop Louisiana Tech from making a late push after falling behind by six with 10 minutes to play. Guard Lonnie Smith hit a three from theleft wing to the tie the game at 46 at the 8:22 mark, but a minute later Garcia-Mendoza’s hustle play helped stop the Bulldogs’ run.
The Trojans’ bench chipped in 30 points led by the emergence of Bails, who scored 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting after missing the first two games suspension for violating team rules.
“Depth is a strength of this team,” Shields said. “We’re deeper than a year ago, and we’ve got to continue to get those guys into it. It can be a different guy any night.” SUN BELT WOMEN
BOWLING GREEN 56, UALR 47
SEATTLE - Bowling Green outscored UALR 31-21 in the second half no the way to a 56-47 victory on the first day of the Seattle University Thanksgiving tournament.
Chastity Reed led UALR (2-2) with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Marian Kursh added 8 points and 5 rebounds and Asriel Rolfe scored 7 points.
The Trojans shot 38.5 percent from the field to Bowling Green’s 28.8 percent but were hurt by foul trouble, with Rolfe and Janette Merriex each receiving their fourth foul in the beginning of the second half.
Bowling Green made 6 of 18 threepointers and went 20 of 28 from the free throw line.
SMU 86, ARKANSAS STATE 80, 2OT
DALLAS - Arkansas State took SMU to double overtime, but fell to the Mustangs in the opening round of the Hoops for the Cure Tournament at Moody Coliseum.
Quinishia McDowell had 17 points to lead the Red Wolves (4-3), who played their second consecutive overtime game. ASU beat Texas-Arlington in overtime Wednesday night.
Jasmine Taylor scored 15 points, NeNe Hurst had 13 points and Sherina Scott added 10 points and 11 rebounds.
SMU (2-2) scored the first six points of the second overtime period for a 79-73 lead and the Red Wolves could not get closer than five points the rest of the period.
In the first overtime, ASU led 72-67 with 15 seconds left, but SMU’s Samantha Mahnesmith hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining to pull the Mustangs within 72-70. Hurst hit 1 of 2 free throws to stretch ASU’s lead to 73-70. But Mahnesmith, who along with Delisha Wills led SMU with 19 points, tied the game at 73-73 with another three just before the buzzer.
Sports, Pages 29 on 11/27/2010