Chris Beard and Mark Byington went head-to-head for Marcus Johnson Jr. in the spring.
Beard won the recruitment when he persuaded Johnson to sign with the UALR men's basketball team. Beard won again when the two coaches met for the first time as Sun Belt Conference foes Thursday -- in large part because of Johnson.
Johnson made seven of UALR's 13 three-pointers and scored 24 points to help the Trojans protect their lead in the Sun Belt standings in an 80-67 victory over the Eagles at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock. The victory extended UALR's program-best home winning streak to 10 games.
In front of an announced crowd of 3,078, the Trojans got threes from six different players, including one each from Kemy Osse and Josh Hagins to kick-start an 8-2 spurt to open the game. But it was Johnson who consistently kept UALR (18-2, 8-1) out of Georgia Southern's reach, making 7 of 10 three-pointers while scoring more points than he has since a Dec. 1 victory over Central Arkansas.
"Marcus Johnson is a shot-maker," said Beard, UALR's first-year coach. "Our team can't rely on 7-for-10 three-point shooting every night, but that's something he can do. He's done it before, and he'll probably do it again."
Byington, Georgia Southern's third-year coach who went after Johnson after he received junior-college All-American honors at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas, knows that well.
"He got hot early, and he had trouble missing," Byington said. "We knew he was good, and he's having a great year, and I'm happy for him being out here and having the success that he's having."
Johnson wasn't the only reason UALR became the 11th Division I team to win its 18th game this season and move to 8-1 in the Sun Belt for the first time. Roger Woods added 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting; Mareik Isom made two threes and scored 10 points; and Hagins had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
Jalen Jackson added nine points, five of which came in a key stretch of the second half to stop a Georgia Southern rally.
UALR shot 56 percent, including 7 of 10 from three, to take a 41-28 lead at halftime. A Lis Shoshi tip-in gave the Trojans a 43-28 lead early in the second half, but Jake Allsmiller's three-pointer from the top of the key sparked a 12-3 run that got the Eagles (7-12, 3-6) within 46-40.
Jackson provided the Trojans' answer. After a Beard timeout, Jackson drove the lane for a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play.
"When I saw that we were starting to get down a little bit, I knew we had to come in and be a little more aggressive," Jackson said. "Coach tells us to spread the floor and get four passes. And I just saw the lane and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and get that.' "
Jackson then made a steal, which led to a Woods' basket inside. Later, Jackson's floater gave the Trojans a 53-42 lead with 14:17 left.
Georgia Southern again cut the lead to six with 12:37 to go, but Isom hit a three in the corner to spark an 11-2 run. During the five-minute stretch, Georgia Southern missed 10 consecutive shots while UALR took a 62-49 lead. It led by at least nine the rest of the game.
On top of 13 of 22 three-point shooting, UALR shot 51 percent from the floor. Georgia Southern shot 43.6 percent but was only 5 of 25 from three-point range and scored 34 points less than it did in a 101-100 victory at Appalachian State on Monday night.
Tookie Brown led the Eagles with 17 points and Mike Hughes had 16.
"They're as good as advertised," Byington said of UALR. "Especially defensively."
Beard didn't think his defense was up to par, particularly during the second half when it played Georgia Southern to a 39-39 tie.
"That's not our objective. We're not trying to play people even on our home floor in the second half," Beard said. "Any game in late January you'll take the win, but at the same time, I thought we've got to play a lot better than we did tonight going forward."
Sports on 01/29/2016