It seems the UALR men are getting hot at the right time .
The Trojans (12-15, 7-10 Sun Belt) won for the fourth time in five games Saturday after their 63-58 victory over Troy in Troy, Ala. UALR's only loss since Feb. 5 was a 72-70 defeat in overtime against Georgia Southern at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
UALR led for all but 1:09 against Troy, using a 12-1 run midway through the second half to put away the game. Five points by Mareik Isom and three free throws by Ben Dillard sparked the run that gave the Trojans a 49-35 lead with 6:53 remaining.
Troy cut the lead to 55-48 on two free throws by Christian Harrison with 1:20 left, but Dillard made 6 of 6 free throws and Josh Hagins converted a dunk to offset eight points by Chris Bilbo and two free throws by Wesley Person the remainder of the way.
UALR led for all but 1:09 of the opening half, but it wasn't until the final minutes that the Trojans were able to extend the lead to 10 or more points. John Walton's basket with 6:44 left in the half got Troy to within 19-15, but Hagins scored the final six points to give the Trojans a 25-15 halftime advantage
Person opened the second half by scoring the first six points to trim the UALR lead to 25-21, but the visitors scored seven of the next nine points to push the lead to 32-23 with 15:35 remaining.
Troy pulled to within 37-34 on Kevin Thomas' dunk with 10:48 left, but UALR again responded. Jerron Washington and Hill had baskets, while Isom hit a three-pointer to give the Trojans a 44-35 lead at the 8:19 mark. Dillard's three free throws capped the 12-1 run.
Troy pulled no closer than five points the rest of the way.
UALR limited Troy to 36.7 percent shooting from the floor while shooting 41.5 percent, including 43.8 percent (6 of 16) on three-pointers. Dillard's 11-of-11 effort helped UALR shoot 12 of 13 (92.3 percent) from the free-throw line.
Playing off the bench, Hagins led all players with 17 points. Dillard had 14 and Roger Woods added 11 for the Trojans who got a combined 23 rebounds from Marius Hill (12) and Woods (11).
Saturday's victory completed the Trojans' third Sun Belt sweep this season in its seven victories. UALR had previously defeated Appalachian State and Arkansas State all four times in 2015 to go with a 69-61 victory over Texas State.
UALR plays its final home game of the season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Georgia State, which is 12-4 in the Sun Belt. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.
ARKANSAS STATE 70,
LOUISIANA-MONROE 68
Frederic Dure hit the game-winning shot with 5.6 seconds left as the Red Wolves broke a five-game losing streak and pushed Sun Belt leader Louisiana-Monroe into a three-way tie with Georgia Southern and Georgia State for the conference lead after the victory at the Convocation Center in Jonesboro.
The Red Wolves (10-15, 5-11) led 67-63 with 1:26 remaining before ULM’s Tylor Ongwae hit a three-pointer 19 seconds later to cut the deficit to one. Both teams missed opportunities before ASU’s Anthony Livingston made one of two free throws with 25 seconds left to give the Red Wolves a 68-66 lead.
Ongwae missed a three-pointer on the Warhawks’ next possession, but Justin Roberson put back the offensive rebound to tie the score at 68-68 with 10 seconds remaining.
P.J. Hardwick then found Dure for the game-winning layup as the Red Wolves rebounded from Thursday’s 70-57 loss to UALR in Little Rock.
Majok Deng’s three-point attempt hit off the back of the iron at the buzzer.
Dure scored 21 points and had eight rebounds to lead Arkansas State. Cameron Golden added 17 points and Livingston chipped in 16.
Ongwae scored 20 points and Nick Coppola had 19 to lead the Warhawks.
SOUTHLAND
SAM HOUSTON STATE 70,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 42
The game between the Southland Conference’s best and worst predictably went its intended way Saturday at the Farris Center in Conway as the Bearkats (22-5, 13-1) raced out to a 40-17 halftime advantage on their way to the 28-point blowout over the Bears (1-23, 1-12).
Sam Houston had one player score 10 or more points as Jabari Peters’ 14 led both teams, but the Bearkats were able to turn 22 UCA turnovers into 29 points. UCA forced 12 turnovers, converting them into 10 points.
UCA, which never led in the game, got a team-high 13 points from Jordan Howard, who hit 6 of 12 shots from the field, including 1 three-pointer. Boo Milligan finished with 9 points, while Jake Zuilhof had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Mike Martin, the team’s second-leading scorer, was held scoreless as only six Bears scored in the game.
The Bears hit 33.3 percent from the field but held the Bearkats to 40.4 percent, including 35.7 percent in the second half.
SWAC
TEXAS SOUTHERN 56,
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 50
JoVaughn Love scored the first basket of the game to give Arkansas-Pine Bluff an early 2-0 lead, but that was the biggest lead of the night for the Golden Lions, who fell at H&PE Arena in Houston.
UAPB (10-18, 6-8 SWAC) led 31-30 at intermission after Jaylon Floyd’s tip-in with 22 seconds left in the first half, but Texas Southern (14-12, 11-2) held the Golden Lions to five points over the final 7:29 to secure the victory.
Texas Southern’s Malcolm Riley led all scorers with 22 points, while teammate Chris Thomas chipped in 10.
Trent Whiting came off the bench to lead UAPB with 14 points. Ghiavonni Robinson added 10 for the Golden Lions, who shot 35.6 percent from the field for the game. UAPB forced 18 Texas Southern turnovers and converted them into 18 points.
Sports on 02/22/2015