SUN BELT MEN
LOUISIANA-MONROE 79, UALR 62
Rayjon Tucker scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock lost its season finale to Louisiana-Monroe at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
The Ragin Cajuns scored the game's first eight points, and after UALR's Dani Koljanin and Louisiana-Monroe's Michael Ertel traded three-pointers, the Cajuns maintained a 13-5 lead nearly four minutes into the game. The Trojans went on a 9-0 run over the next 3:20, capped by a Jaizec Lottie layup with 14:09 left in the first half, to take a 14-13 lead. UALR's lead never grew higher than four points, and a layup by Travis Munnings with 10:06 remaining tied the game at 21-21.
The Ragin Cajuns (16-14, 10-8 Sun Belt) built a double-digit lead on three occasions from that point, but a three-pointer by Deondre Burns with 1:32 left cut ULM's lead to 40-32 at halftime.
A 6-1 run to start the second half pushed the lead to double digits again, where it would remain for the rest of the game.
The Trojans shot 45 percent (21 of 47) from the floor and were 37 percent (7 of 19) from the three-point line, but they didn't hit a field goal in the game's final 4:56. UALR was outrebounded 39-29 -- including 10-3 on the offensive end -- and committed 14 turnovers.
Burns and Koljanin scored 12 points each for UALR (10-21, 5-13). Munnings scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 5 three-pointers, to lead Louisiana-Monroe. JD Williams had 18 points for the Warhawks, Daishon Smith and Andre Washington chipped in with 12 each and Ertel finished with 11.
SOUTHLAND MEN
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 70, NORTHWESTERN (LA.) ST. 63
The University of Central Arkansas scored the game's first eight points to build an early lead Saturday, but Northwestern (La.) State used a 15-0 run to start the second half to get back into the game before the Bears ultimately kept their postseason hopes alive with a victory at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La.
The Bears used their hot start to build a 21-8 lead with 11:06 left in the first half after Tanner Schmit hit a three-pointer. The lead remained in double digits for the rest of the half, and SK Shittu's jumper with 41 seconds left gave UCA a 41-21 halftime lead.
The Demons made a game of it to start the second half, using their run to cut the lead to 41-36 with 12:19 left after Ishmael Lane's dunk. The Bears regrouped and built an 11-point lead after Hayden Koval hit two free throws with 7:02 left to make it 57-46. Northwestern State put together a 9-0 run over the next 2:15, and after C.J. Jones hit a jumper with 4:47 remaining, the Demons trailed 57-55.
Thatch Unruh led the Bears (12-16, 7-11 Southland Conference) with 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor in 37 minutes, while Koval finished with 12. Lane finished with 18 points to lead the Demons (11-20, 6-12).
SWAC MEN
UAPB 91, MISSISSIPPI VALLEY ST. 57
Martaveous McKnight scored 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor to lead the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (12-19, 10-8 Southwestern Athletic Conference) to a regular-season ending victory over Mississippi Valley State (6-26, 4-14) in Itta Bena, Miss.
The Golden Lions shot 50 percent (16 of 32) from the floor in the first half to build a 41-36 halftime lead, then got even better in the second half, going 19 of 32 (59.4 percent). After shooting 41.9 percent from the floor in the first half, the Delta Devils cooled off to 25.8 percent in the second half.
UAPB outrebounded Mississippi Valley State 39-36 despite losing the offensive rebounding battle 21-16, but the Golden Lions made up for it by outscoring the Delta Devils 40-18 in the lane, 25-16 in second-chance points and 29-9 off the bench.
Terrance Banyard scored 14 points for UAPB, which kept alive its hopes of hosting a SWAC Tournament game on Tuesday, while Marquell Carter and Artavious McDyess added 10 points each. Dante Scott led Mississippi Valley State with 21 points.
SUN BELT WOMEN
UALR 57, LOUISIANA-MONROE 38
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (19-10, 15-3 Sun Belt) earned the top seed in next week's conference tournament with a victory over Louisiana-Monroe at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La.
Leading 12-11 after the first quarter, UALR outscored Louisiana-Monroe 18-6 in the second quarter and 17-8 in the third quarter to take control. The Trojans shot 48 percent (23 of 48) from the floor, despite hitting 1 of 9 three-pointers, and went 10 of 10 from the free-throw line. The Warhawks shot 33 percent (15 of 46) from the floor, and hit 2 of 16 three-pointers and 6 of 11 free throws.
Ronjanae DeGray led the Trojans with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor to go with 6 rebounds. Kyra Collier added 16 points and tied for the team lead with 3 assists.
ARKANSAS STATE 75, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 73
Arkansas State University (12-17, 7-11 Sun Belt) got two free throws from Jireh Washington with seven seconds left to get a victory over Louisiana-Lafayette at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La.
After a back-and-forth game for the first three quarters, the Red Wolves were able to build a nine-point lead midway through the fourth quarter when Washington hit a jumper with 4:19 left for a 67-58 lead.
The Ragin' Cajuns then went on a 10-1 run, capped by a Jomyra Mathis jumper with 2:50 remaining, to tie the game at 68-68.
Washington hit 1 of 2 free throws and Morgan Wallace's layup with 1:33 left gave ASU a 71-68 lead, but Mathis hit a jumper with 1:12 left to cut the deficit to 71-70. Akasha Westbrook hit two free throws with 42 seconds remaining to push the lead to 73-70, but Andrea Cournoyer tied the game with a three-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to set up Washington's game-winning free throws.
Washington scored 22 points to lead ASU, which had already earned the No. 9 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament. Payton Tennison had 17 points and Morgan Wallace chipped in with 11 for the Red Wolves. Ty'reona Doucet led Louisiana-Lafayette with 16 points, while Cournoyer and Mathis added 14 each.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
NORTHWESTERN (LA.) ST.78, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 74
Four University of Central Arkansas players scored 10 or more points, but it wasn't enough to overcome RaVon Nero's game-high 28 points on Saturday at Prather Coliseum in Natchitoches, La.
The Sugar Bears (11-17, 6-12 Southland), who could have secured the No. 8 seed in the Southland Conference Tournament with a victory, led for the entire first half. They took a 33-21 lead on Hannah Langhi's layup with 3:15 left before a 7-2 run to end the half gave UCA a 35-28 halftime lead.
The Lady Demons (11-18, 6-12) took their first lead of the game with 5:05 left in the third quarter on a three-point play from Nautica Grant. The score was tied twice in the final five minutes of the quarter, but Northwestern State took a 57-54 lead to start the fourth quarter.
The lead continued to grow from there, as the Demons took a 72-60 lead with 3:32 remaining after Nero hit four consecutive free throws.
The Sugar Bears outscored the Demons 14-6 the rest of the way, cutting the lead to two with 20 seconds left on a Kamry Orr jumper, but two free throws from Sami Thomas with 15 seconds left sealed the victory for Northwestern State.
Langhi scored 19 points to lead UCA, which could have qualified for the conference tournament with an Incarnate Word victory over Abilene Christian, but the Wilcats defeated the Cardinals 102-53. Orr finished with 16 points for the Sugar Bears, Alana Canady chipped in with 14 and Maddie Goodner added 10.
SWAC WOMEN
MISS. VALLEY STATE 82, UAPB 63
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (5-20, 2-16 SWAC) led 17-14 after the first quarter Saturday, but the Golden Lions were held to nine second-quarter points in a loss to Mississippi Valley State (6-23, 5-13) in Itta Bena, Miss.
UAPB shot 37.3 percent (22 of 59) from the floor, but hit just 4 of 16 three-pointers and committed 29 turnovers. Mississippi Valley State shot 42.9 percent (30 of 70) from the floor, including 7-of-23 shooting from the three-point line.
Noe'll Taylor scored a game-high 16 points in the loss for the Golden Lions, while Ashlee Daniel had 12 and Trasity Totten added 11. LaKendra Bassett led the Devilettes with 15 points and Sydnie Ward had 14.
Sports on 03/10/2019