Kemy Osse’s nine points didn’t lead the UALR men’s basketball team in its 68-65 victory over St. Bonaventure on Monday.
But most of the senior guard’s points came in two key sequences of the second half as the Trojans (3-1) rallied for a victory after letting a 10-point lead slip away on the first day of the Lone Star Showcase at Cedar Park, Texas.
Osse’s three-pointer with 1:56 left put the Trojans up 64-62 and finished out a back-and-forth game, which vame three days after UALR suffered its first loss of the season against Idaho on Friday. Osse’s shot came four minutes after his four-point play — a three-pointer followed by a free throw — made it 58-53 with 5:52 left.
“Big-time shot, and Kemy is capable of making those,” Trojans Coach Wes Flanigan said.
St. Bonaventure (1-2), which tied for the Atlantic 10 regular season title and played in the NIT last year, answered by scoring on a 9-2 run to go up 62-60 before Maurius Hill made a free throw and Osse made the three-pointer.
“We just kind of stayed stone-faced, kept playing and we stayed true to the game plan,” Flanigan said. “It was a great win for us against a great team right there.”
Lis Shoshi finished with 16 points, hitting 12 of 14 free throws, and eight rebounds. Marcus Johnson Jr. had 14 points and Jalen Jackson had 10 for the Trojans, who play Pepperdine in the tournament today.
Shoshi had 10 points in the first half as UALR took a 38-28 lead, but St. Bonaventure started the half on a 13-3 run to tie it at 41-41 with 14:27 left. The lead changed hands seven times before Osse’s decisive three-pointer.
St. Bonaventure guards Matt Mobley and Jaylen Adams entered averaging 24.5 and 21.5 points per game, respectively. Mobley finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, while Adams had 18 on 4-of-11 shooting.