JONESBORO — It wasn’t as stressful as Saturday night’s Sun Belt Conference victory over Appalachian State, but ASU’s 67-57 victory over Coastal Carolina Monday night was every bit as important to the Red Wolves.
ASU’s victory in front of 2,870 at the Convocation Center completed a weekend sweep of two teams that beat the Red Wolves in early January.
ASU (18-6, 9-2) remains tied with Georgia State and Georgia South atop the standings.
“It’s always nice to get revenge on the other team,” said Arkansas State forward Deven Simms, who led ASU with 18 points and nine rebounds. “I think we did a good job today.”
Arkansas State Grant McCasland was particularly pleased with a defense that held the Chanticleers to 24 of 62 (38.7 percent) from the field, including 5 of 25 on three-point attempts.
“We really got everything we wanted for the most part,” McCasland said. “The guys who were shooting the ball are the guys we wanted to shoot it. … With a team as explosive as that, you have to get out front so you can withstand a few of their quick rallies.”
ASU 67, COASTAL CAROLINA 57
ASU outscored Coastal Carolina 12-0 to open a 19-7 lead during a stretch during the middle of the first half when the Chanticleers missed eight consecutive shots.
Simms, who finished the half with 12 points, had 7 points and 1 assist during ASU’s early surge.
“Coach told me I needed to aggressive straight off the bench,” Simms said. “Carrying over from the App State game, we knew we were going to have to be aggressive.
“We knew we were going to get open shots from the defense that they play, so we wanted to take those open threes or pull-up shots late in the shot clock.”
The Chanticleers (11-13, 6-5) outscored ASU 8-2 at the outset of the second half to cut the Red Wolves’ lead to 36-30.
Devin Carter, held to two first-half points, scored eight consecutive to push ASU’s lead to 44-32, and Coastal Carolina didn’t get any closer than nine during the final 14:29.
“We challenged him at halftime, and he’s the kind of guy that really wants to win,” McCasland said of Carter.
“At halftime, he wasn’t happy with the way he guarded in the first half, and he came out and was assertive and played great defense the second half.”
ASU was never threatened in the final minutes like it was on Saturday when Appalachian State hit 3 three-pointers to close within one point.
Rashad Lindsey’s three-pointer and Tamas Bruce’s one-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass made it 61-47.
Coastal Carolina cut it to 61-52 with 1:26 left, but the Red Wolves hit 6 of 8 free throws over the final 1:08, including Simms hitting 4 of 4.
“I thought we made some great decisions with the ball late in the game,” McCasland said, “passing it to who we wanted to, and then we got a couple of good finishes.”
SWAC MEN
UAPB 65, ALABAMA A&M 49
Joe Randle Toliver scored 21 points, hitting 7 of 15 three pointers, to help UAPB (6-18, 5-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference) end a three-game losing streak Monday night at Huntsville, Ala. Jaquan Lynch scored 10 points and had four assists for the Golden Lions, who won despite shooting 23 of 54
(42.6 percent) from the floor and being outscored 15-7 from the free-throw line. UAPB made 12 of 24 three pointers. The Golden Lions outrebounded Alabama A&M 30-24 and committed 11 turnovers.
Defensively, UAPB held Alabama A&M to 16-of-39 shooting (41.0 percent) from the floor.
Quinterian McConico led Alabama A&M (1-21, 1-10) with 16 points. De’Ederick Petty and Adrian Edwards each finished with 11 points.
SWAC WOMEN
UAPB 65, ALABAMA A&M 55
Faith Ohanta scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff (9-13, 6-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference) to a road victory Monday night at Huntsville, Ala.
Ajia Richardson and Shawntayla Harris both finished with 13 points for the Lady Golden Lions, who led 48-47 after three quarters before outscoring Alabama A&M 17-8 in the fourth quarter. UAPB put the game away by making 14 of 22 free throws in the fourth quarter, including 4 of 5 by Ohanta and 3 of 4 by Harris.
For the game, UAPB won despite shooting 19 of 50 (38 percent) from the floor and being outrebounded 30-28.
Alabama A&M was 21 of 46 (45.7 percent) from the field, but the Lady Bulldogs were outscored 21-9 at the free-throw line.
Josta Totten led Alabama A&M (2-18, 0-11) with 18 points while making 7 of 9 field goals, including 4 of 6 three-pointers. Juliette Akinwole added with 12 points.
Sports on 02/07/2017