The UALR men’s basketball team already had a resounding victory over Sun Belt Conference preseason favorite Louisiana-Lafayette on its list of accomplishments.
The Trojans added to their resume Saturday by taking care of the defending league champions.
Josh Hagins scored 18 points, nine in the final eight minutes, and a season-high crowd of 4,682 at the Jack Stephens Center watched as UALR pulled away from Georgia State for a 63-53 victory Saturday.
Hagins hit a three-pointer with eight minutes left as the shot clock was winding down, giving UALR a 48-46 lead during a 14-0 run. Roger Woods’ layup with 4:34 remaining ended the surge with UALR up 57-46.
Woods scored 16 points, and Mareik Isom had 13 off the bench for the Trojans (19-2, 9-1), whose ninth Sun Belt victory is one more than their total from last season; their 19th overall victory is their most since the 2011 NCAA Tournament team.
“We’ve got a will, man,” said Hagins, who was 6 of 12 from the floor and added five assists. “We just found a way, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do all the way up until March.”
UALR Coach Chris Beard deflected the significance of the Trojans’ program-best start, choosing instead to look ahead.
“This is where it starts,” Beard said. “This is where it gets very exciting as a competitor, trying to beat somebody twice or trying to have the opportunity to beat somebody that has beaten you.”
UALR’s 32-19 first-half lead turned into a 46-43 deficit in the second half.
UALR 63, GEORGIA STATE 53
The Trojans led 37-28 at halftime after shooting 46.2 percent from the floor, but they missed seven of their first eight shots of the second half as the Panthers (12-7, 5-5) stormed back to take a 40-39 lead. The lead changed hands five times over the next two minutes, settling at the 46-43 Georgia State advantage with 10:23 left.
Woods initiated UALR’s 14-0 run with a basket inside, which is where most of his 16 points were scored as he attacked Georgia State’s zone defense.
“I’ve struggled with the zone in the past,” Woods said. “I tried to get in there and find gaps, open up gaps and help my team out anyway I can.”
Beard said his team needed time to identify Georgia State’s varying zones, and UALR’s defense clicked back into gear after Woods’ basket. The Panthers missed eight consecutive shots during nearly nine minutes of action and turned the ball over three times.
Hagins’ three-pointer from the top of the key gave UALR a 48-46 lead. The Trojans made 8 of 24 three-pointers Saturday, but when Hagins took the shot to put his team up for good, UALR had missed eight in a row from the arc.
“We’re real good about having the next-play mentality,” Hagins said. “It gave us a little spark toward the end, and everybody stepped up.”
Isom followed with a three, then Hagins found Isom for a layup. Hagins’ jumper made it 55-46 with 5:10 left. Georgia State, losers of three consecutive Sun Belt games for the first time since it joined the league in 2013, was held to seven points and 2-for-13 shooting over the final 10 minutes.
“I think when we defend as a team and we have three players show up offensively with efficient games,” Beard said, “we’re difficult to play against.”
UALR had both elements through much of the first half. Georgia State made its first five shots to take a 14-8 lead five minutes into the game but was just 5 of 17 the rest of the first half.
Beard thought the most important statistic of the night was timeouts — he didn’t have to use one until two minutes left in the game.
“That shows what kind of confidence we have in these players,” he said. “Players have to trust the coach, and the coach has to trust the players. And with each step in our journey, I’m starting to trust these players more and more.”
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 71,
ARKANSAS STATE 66
JONESBORO — Georgia Southern’s Tookie Brown hit a fadeaway three-pointer as the shot clock expired with 1:09 left in the game to give the Eagles (8-12, 4-6) the lead for good as they defeated Arkansas State (10-11, 6-4) at the Convocation Center on Saturday.
Senior guard Sean Gardner scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half to help Arkansas State build a 37-35 halftime lead, but the Eagles were able to take a 58-51 lead with 8:40 left in the game. The Red Wolves responded with a 12-3 run over the next six minutes to pull ahead 63-61.
The game was tied at 66-66 when Brown hit his go-ahead three-pointer. Arkansas State missed a three-pointer that would have tied the game with 16 seconds remaining, and Georgia Southern hit two free throws with seven seconds left to secure the victory.
“Sometimes you’re fortunate to win, and sometimes you’re unfortunate to lose, and this was one of those cases,” ASU Coach John Brady said. “We made no mistakes defensively, but they made two incredible shots that I would want them to shoot. I can’t explain how it happened. It’s almost like it’s meant to be. Good for them, not good for us.” Junior guard Anthony Livingston scored 16 points for Arkansas State, while junior guard Devin Carter finished with 12. Mike Hughes scored a gamehigh 21 points to lead Georgia Southern, while Brown had 17 and Ike Smith chipped in 11.
SWAC MEN
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 63,
GRAMBLING STATE 59
JoVaughn Love’s only three-pointer of the game with 47 seconds left helped preserve Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s victory over Grambling State on Saturday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff. Love’s three-pointer made it 62-57 and came on the heels of two free throws by Grambling State’s Mark Gray, which cut UAPB’s lead to 59-57 with 1:10 left.
UAPB (4-18, 3-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference) led 56-46 after two free throws by Charles Jackson with 7:38 to play. But the Tigers put together an 11-3 run before Love’s three-pointer.
Marquis Cunningham led the Golden Lions with 13 points. His layup at the 8:03 mark of the first half put UAPB up 27-10. The Golden Lions led 40-28 at the half.
Love, Ghiavonni Robinson and Thaddeus Handley each had 11 points for Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Grambling State (6-14, 3-5) got 20 points from Deonte Hearns and Gray grabbed 10 rebounds.
Sports on 01/31/2016