UALR was hoping the return of 6-11 forward Lis Soshi and a still-jumbled Sun Belt Conference race could provide a spark to its disappointing season.
But there was no stopping a Coastal Carolina team that attempted and made jumpers from all over the Jack Stephens Center floor in Little Rock in an 82-75 loss on Saturday night, its fourth loss in a row.
Jalen Jackson had 21 points and three Trojans scored 11 and shot 53.8 percent in the second half, but it wasn't enough to keep up with the Chanticleers, who shot 63 percent from the floor, including 5 of 9 on three-pointers, while wiping out UALR's 34-31 halftime lead.
Coastal Carolina was led by Jaylen Shaw, who made his first five shots from the floor en route to 21 points, and was boosted by Colton Ray-St Cyr's 16 points.
Shaw and Ray-St Cyr were aided by Demario Beck's two second-half threes that cut into UALR's lead and Artur Labinowicz' three that gave them a 67-57 lead.
UALR Coach Wes Flanigan has said at different points this year that his team has gotten better defensively, but said Saturday that "we still have a long way to go."
"We've been struggling with that really all year," he said. "We've just got to do a better job of guarding in those situations. What it does is gives the other team momentum, gives them a lot of confidence."
The Trojans almost kept up with the Chanticleers (11-12, 6-4), cutting the lead to three points three times in the final six minutes.
Coastal Carolina led 67-57 with 7:12 left after Labinowicz's three-pointer, but Marcus Johnson Jr. scored on a three-point play, then made two free throws and Shoshi made two free throws to get the Trojans within 67-64.
But, Shivaughn Wiggins' contested layup hit high off the backboard and fell through the net, and UALR's two other rallies were thwarted when it couldn't get another stop.
Johnson, who had 11 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds, lost the handle on a drive while down 69-66, and Labinowicz followed with two free throws to make it 71-66.
Jackson's basket made it 71-68, but Joseph Williams-Powell's two free throws put Coastal Carolina up 73-69. Beck all but sealed it with an alley-oop dunk with 2:41 left.
"We started getting stops," Jackson said, "but there just wasn't enough of them."
Coastal Carolina Coach Cliff Ellis said it wasn't as much UALR's defense breaking down as it was his team's execution on offense.
"We just happened to free some guys and they took the shot and made it," Ellis said. "Fortunately, there wasn't anybody off."
It was the latest close loss for a UALR team that made a habit of winning such contests last year. The Trojans went 6-3 in Sun Belt games decided by seven or fewer points on their way to the NCAA Tournament last year, but Saturday's loss dropped this team to 1-4 in such situations.
"That's on me as a coach," Flanigan said. "We've got to do better job there. That's something we've got to start practicing, and we did it the other day, and it wasn't very good."
Sports on 02/05/2017