It took the UALR men's basketball team almost 12 minutes to score 17 points in the first half.
The Trojans scored that many in the first five minutes of the second half during a run that changed momentum and helped deliver a 73-65 victory over Troy in front of an announced crowd of 1,281 on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
UALR, coming off consecutive losses and sitting at the bottom of the Sun Belt standings, made eight of its first nine shots after halftime to spark a 17-2 run that turned a 34-25 halftime deficit into a 42-36 lead with 15:00 minutes left.
Then, after Troy (7-10, 2-6) pulled to within 55-53 with 6:15 left, Gus Leeper made a jumper, James Reid followed with a three-pointer and UALR's 10-0 run closed out its second Sun Belt victory.
"I thought we kept playing every possession," UALR Coach Steve Shields said. "There have been times where we've taken possessions off. We're becoming a more consistent team with our effort and our focus."
Josh Hagins scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime and added 8 rebounds and 5 assists, while Roger Woods had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Ben Dillard 13 points for UALR (7-11, 2-6). But Troy Coach Phil Cunningham didn't point to any of those three as the reason for the drastic change after halftime. Instead, he singled out DeVonte Smith.
The UALR senior didn't play in the first half but started the second half and finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in 18 minutes. Shields said Smith was held out of the first half because he was late to a weight-lifting session Wednesday. Cunningham said the jolt from Smith was hard for his players, who were playing their fourth game in eight days.
"He's so quick pushing the ball in transition after a miss, and he just totally sped up the game," Cunningham said. "He is already a high-energy, fast guy and he comes in and he has the freshest legs in the gym."
Smith's affect was seen on the first possession of the second half. Dillard made a jumper, and Smith pushed the ball up the floor following a rebound by Hagins that led to a layup by Woods.
Hagins' three-pointer pulled UALR to within 34-32 with 18:24 left, and it took its first lead of the game on another three-pointer by Hagins that made it 35-34. UALR forced Troy into seven consecutive scoreless possessions to start the 17-2 run, after which UALR led 42-36.
"Any time you see the ball go in the hole, it always gives you a little energy," said Hagins, who scored eight points in the first four minutes of the second half. "It just gave our team a lift, and we needed it."
UALR, which shot 37.5 percent in the first half, shot 54.8 in the second half and made 6 of 11 three-pointers. It also kept Wesley Person, Troy's leading scorer, Musa Abdul-Aleem and Chris Bilbo from getting Troy back in the game.
Person, who averages 15.1, finished with 10 points, while Abdul-Aleem and Bilbo were held to five each in the second half after combining for 19 in the first half.
"I thought we allowed those guys to be a little bit too comfortable in the first half," Shields said. "We knew we couldn't have a repeat of that in the second half."
Person pulled Troy to within 55-53 with 6:15 left with a three-point play. But Leeper hit a jumper from the baseline on the next possession, and after Person missed a jumper for Troy, Reid's three-pointer was followed by a free throw from Hagins, a layup by Smith in transition and a jumper by Hagins that pushed UALR's lead to 65-53.
UALR's ability to finish off a close victory was important for Shields, whose team has lost four Sun Belt games decided by five points or less.
"It's big for us," Hagins said. "With each loss, you learn from mistakes. So we just keep learning from them, figuring out the way to win."
Sports on 01/23/2015