ARKANSAS STATE 59, APPALACHIAN STATE 50
All Arkansas State had to do was make its longest road trip of the Sun Belt Conference season to snap a four-game losing streak.
Cameron Golden led ASU with 20 points, Anthony Livingston had 13 points and 12 rebounds and ASU held Appalachian State scoreless over the final three minutes Thursday night in Boone, N.C.
The Red Wolves (7-8, 2-4) entered the game having lost four in a row, including a 74-73 loss to Appalachian State on Jan. 3 in Jonesboro. On Thursday, ASU used a 10-0 run over a three-minute stretch early in the second half to take a 39-27 lead and begin to pull away.
Appalachian State (4-10, 1-4) got within 55-50 on Tommy Spagnolo's jumper with 2:56 left, but was held scoreless the rest of the game. The Mountaineers, who average 64.4 points per game, missed six shots from the floor and two free throws over the final three minutes as the Red Wolves held on for their first victory since Dec. 30 at South Alabama.
P.J. Hardwick had 11 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds for the Red Wolves, who were held to 36.4 percent shooting, but held the Mountaineers to 29.3 percent.
Golden, who scored 20 points or more for the third time this season, made 7 of 14 shots and 3 of 6 three-pointers against a Mountaineers team that was held to 50 points or less for the third time this season and second game in a row.
Frank Eaves had 13 points for Appalachian State, while Spagnolo had 10 points and 13 rebounds.
SUN BELT WOMEN
APPALACHIAN STATE 70, ARKANSAS STATE 69
Arkansas State saw a 14-point lead disappear over the game’s final seven minutes as the Red Wolves suffered their first Sun Belt loss Thursday night in Boone, N.C.
The Red Wolves (10-6, 5-1) led 61-47 with 7:37 remaining, but Katie Mallow hit 3 three-pointers for the Mountaineers (8-6, 3-2) and Maryah Sydnor hit two free throws with 1:28 left to cut the lead to 68-66.
Bria Huffman hit the go-ahead basket for Appalachian State with eight seconds left and Aundrea Gamble’s layup attempt was blocked to secure the victory.
“When it got tough tonight, we just could not get the stops we needed,” Arkansas State Coach Brian Boyer said. “We gave up three wide open looks to their best shooter and then just couldn’t get rebounds down the stretch when we needed them.”
Sydnor finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds for Appalachian State, which outrebounded Arkansas State 45-38. Mallow had 19 points, while KeKe Cooper added 10 points and 6 rebounds. “We knew all along that Appalachian State is one of the best, if not the best, scoring teams in the league and they weren’t going to go away,” Boyer said. “We went into a stretch where we just could not get stops.”
Appalachian State turned nine offensive rebounds in the second half into 14 second-chance points, which ultimately did the Red Wolves in, Boyer said.
“If you give a team that many chances on the offensive end, they will come in and bite you,” Boyer said.
Gamble finished with a team-high 21 points to go with 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Lauren Bradshaw scored a career-high 20 points and had 5 rebounds, while Khadija Brown-Haywood finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds for the Red Wolves.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
HOUSTON BAPTIST 58,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 37
Central Arkansas struggled to score and let the Southland Conference’s leading scorer and rebounder do what she wanted in losing its third consecutive game Thursday in Houston.
Shanice Steenholdt scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds to lead Houston Baptist (7-9, 1-4) to its first conference victory, while UCA (9-8, 2-3) was held to 11-of-40 shooting (27.5 percent) while scoring its lowest output of the season. The Sugar Bears have scored 46 points or less in three consecutive games while losing those games by a combined 84 points. Brianna Mullins led UCA with 11 points, Maggie Proffitt had nine, and UCA didn’t have any other player score more than five points. The Sugar Bears made 4 of 8 three-pointers but were 7 of 31 (22.5 percent) on their two-point attempts.
UCA missed its first eight shots from the floor while falling behind 6-1 less than eight minutes into the game. It trailed 24-14 with four minutes to go in the half and 28-16 at halftime.
Sports on 01/16/2015