Top defense halts Red Wolves

With the chance to take control of the Sun Belt Conference, Arkansas State couldn’t get by the best defensive team in the league Monday night.

ASU went three possessions without a field goal after tying the game with less than four minutes to go and Texas State was able to hold on for a 62-58 victory on Monday night at Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos, Texas.

It was the second consecutive loss for ASU (18-8, 9-4 Sun Belt), which entered the game in a three-way tie for first place, and found itself with a slim lead after Georgia State and Georgia Southern each lost earlier Monday. The Red Wolves are now back in a tie with the two Georgia schools with five games remaining after being held to their second lowest point total in a Sun Belt game this year.

“We kept playing and kept giving ourselves a chance,” ASU Coach Grant McCasland said on the postgame radio show. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the juice tonight. I’ve got to do a better job of making sure we’ve got the right guys on the floor and the right matchups.”

Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had 21 points for Texas State, including a banked-in three-pointer with 1:42 left that put the Bobcats up 58-53.

After that, Donte Thomas’ layup got ASU within 59-56 with 51 seconds left, and his free throws with 20 seconds left made it 61-58. Thomas then made a steal and found Rashad Lindsey for a three-pointer, but he missed and Texas State, which was first in the Sun Belt in holding teams to 62.7 points per game, was able to run out the final 10 seconds.

“You know you’re going to be in a grind when you play this team,” McCasland said. “You try to speed them up, but just have limited numbers.”

ASU led 27-25 at halftime, and led 45-44 with 8:26 left, but Texas State went up 47-45 on an Ojai Black layup with 7:22 left and led the rest of the game.

Thomas had 14 points to lead ASU, which shot 37.3 percent from the floor, two days after it shot 51.9 percent in a loss at Texas-Arlington.

Lindsey and Simms each had 9 points and Simms had 10 rebounds for the Red Wolves. Devin Carter, ASU’s leading scorer at 16.7 points per game, had 6 on 2-for-10 shooting, including 1 for 6 from three-point range.

SWAC WOMEN

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 61,

ALCORN STATE 56

Good offense kept UAPB in the game to start, but improved defense to finish helped UAPB win its fifth consecutive game Monday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff.

UAPB made 14 of 27 shots in the first half, but trailed Alcorn State 31-30. It wasn’t until it held the Braves to 4-of-14 shooting while outscoring them 15-10 in the third quarter did the Golden Lions take control. Alcorn State to get within 52-50 with 5:28 left, but Shawntala Harris made a jumper as UAPB scored five consecutive points to make its final push. The victory ran UAPB’s winning streak to five games, its longest under Coach Nate Kilbert, who is in his fifth season. Alcorn State (8-16, 8-5), beat UAPB 70-48 last month.

Niya Head came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points, while Harris had 13 points and 13 rebounds for UAPB (11-13, 8-5).

The Golden Lions shot 23 of 46 from the floor, but made only 1 of 7 three-pointers and 14 of 30 free throws. UAPB also committed 27 turnovers, which Alcorn State turned into 32 points. Alcorn State was held to 31.3 percent (21 of 67) shooting from the floor, and 3 for 18 three-point shooting.

SWAC MEN

ALCORN STATE 70,

ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 58

Arkansas-Pine Bluff couldn’t match its season-best winning streak when playing the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s hottest team on Monday night in Pine Bluff.

A.J. Mosby had 22 points and Alcorn State shot 50 percent from the floor in winning its eighth consecutive game. It snapped UAPB’s two-game winning streak. The Golden Lions defeated Southern on Saturday and Alabama A&M last week.

Jaquan Lynch made six three-pointers, all in the first half, while scoring 20 points for UAPB, and Trent Steen had 12. No other UAPB player had more than six points and the Golden Lions lose to the Braves for the second time this season.

UAPB (7-20, 6-7) shot 50 percent in the first half, which ended tied 39-39. But the Golden Lions were just 8 of 25 from the floor in the second half and 0 for 7 on three-pointers as the Braves (13-11, 10-3) took control.

They led just twice in the second half, when Lynch’s jumper made it 47-46 with 15:08 left and Travon Harper’s layup made it 49-47 with 14:10 remaining. But the Braves scored the next eight points to take a 55-49 lead with 10:00 left and closed on a 13-2 run after the Golden Lions got within 57-56 with 6:42 left.

Sports on 02/14/2017

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