The UALR men's basketball team has used the same formula for most of its victories this season -- a defense that holds opponents below their scoring averages and efficient offense sparked by a handful of three-pointers.
The Trojans followed the script to build a big first-half lead Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. When Texas-Arlington pushed back in the second half, the Trojans didn't change a thing.
Marcus Johnson Jr. and Kemy Osse hit consecutive three-pointers to halt a Texas-Arlington run to start the second half, and UALR pulled away for a 72-60 victory in front of the first sellout crowd at the Jack Stephens Center since Nov. 22, 2005 -- the night the arena opened.
Josh Hagins scored 17 points to lead the Trojans (25-3, 15-2 Sun Belt Conference), who have clinched at least a share of the regular-season tittle and are assured of the No. 1 seed in next month's Sun Belt Tournament.
UALR needs just one victory, or one Louisiana-Monroe loss, during the final three games to clinch an outright conference title for the first time since 1987, which was in the Trans America Athletic Conference.
"We're a team that really cares about the process," Hagins said. "I know we talk about it a lot, but it's something that we really value and really believe in. The only thing that we're worried about right now is practice tomorrow and then the next game. We'll worry about that when the time comes."
Coach Chris Beard displayed a similar mood. He credited his players for Thursday's effort, but he wouldn't bask too much in his team's accomplishments thus far.
"I'm not really into ties," Beard said. "That's why I didn't play soccer. We'd like to win the championship outright, and we have three more games to try to get it done, and that's our objective."
UALR put itself on the brink of an accomplishment it hasn't achieved in almost 30 years by stifling one of the Sun Belt's best offensive teams.
Texas-Arlington entered Thursday night second in the conference in scoring (80.3 points per game) and first in field goals and three-pointers made. But the Trojans held the Mavericks to a season-low point total on 41.9 percent shooting from the floor, 6 of 22 three-point shooting. They also forced 18 turnovers.
Texas-Arlington Coach Scott Cross credited UALR for his team's poor shot selection.
"We have an eggshell margin for error with this team," he said. "We have to be perfect or near perfect, and I think a key to us is ball movement and player movement. If we take tough shots, we're not going to get the results we want."
UALR's defense and timely three-pointers helped it build a first-half advantage.
Mareik Isom, who finished with 11 points, made one from the corner on UALR's second possession, then Hagins made three-pointers on consecutive possessions later in the half. Isom hit another from the opposite corner to put UALR up 22-13 with 9:07 left.
Roger Woods did his work inside, scoring all 10 of his points in the first half as UALR took a 36-25 lead.
The start of the second half was similar to the first time the teams played, a 68-62 UALR victory Jan. 23 in Arlington. UALR raced to a 42-14 halftime lead in that game, one that was almost erased by Texas-Arlington's second-half surge.
The Mavericks started a run Thursday, too, making 6 of their first 7 shots to get within 41-39 after a Jalen Jones three-pointer with 16:03 left. But Shoshi, who had 13 points, responded with a basket inside, then UALR started hitting shots from the outside again.
Johnson and Osse made threes on consecutive possessions to push the lead to 49-42. After Texas-Arlington's last rally got it within 63-58, Isom hit a three-pointer to spark an 8-0 run and seal the victory.
"I liked our composure tonight," Beard said. "I didn't at one time think we were rattled. I think we were just playing a good team, and good teams go on runs."
UALR shot 47.3 percent from the field and made 10 of 19 three-pointers. Five Trojans made three-pointers, and four made at least two.
"That's the beauty of it," Hagins said of the balanced scoring. "They're never afraid of the moment. They knock down shots when the time comes."
Sports on 02/26/2016