SOUTHLAND MEN
ABILENE CHRISTIAN 75,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 70
After trailing by 21 points nearly two minutes into the second half Saturday, the University of Central Arkansas (10-19, 9-9 Southland Conference) trimmed its deficit to three points on three separate occasions, but couldn't get any closer in a loss to Abilene Christian (19-10, 14-4) at Moody Coliseum in Abilene, Texas.
A three-pointer by Deandre Jones with 6:45 remaining cut the Wildcats' lead to 61-58, but Abilene Christian went on an 7-2 run over the next 2:51 -- punctuated by a Kolton Kohl dunk -- to extend the lead to 68-60 with 3:54 left. The Bears continued to whittle away at the lead, and a Hayden Koval layup with 1:10 remaining made it 71-68. Payten Ricks made two free throws with 54 seconds remaining, but Rylan Bergersen countered with two free throws of his own to make it 73-70 with 43 seconds left. Coryon Mason added a layup with 21 seconds left to provide the final margin.
UCA went 24 of 44 (55%) from the floor, including 7-of-17 shooting (41%) from the three-point line. Abilene Christian was 29 of 67 (43%) from the floor, hitting 6 of 18 (33%) three-pointers. The Bears outrebounded the Wildcats 36-31, but that was mitigated by Abilene Christian's 42-28 scoring edge in the lane, 40 bench points and 36 points off 27 Central Arkansas turnovers.
Bergersen finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor to lead the Bears, while Koval had 16 and Jones added 14. Kohl led the Wildcats with 15 points, Ricks finished with 13 and Damien Daniels chipped in with 12.
SWAC MEN
GRAMBLING STATE 60,
UAPB 46
Markedric Bell scored 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the floor and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, but the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (4-25, 3-14 Southwestern Athletic Conference) didn't have another player with more than four points in a loss to Grambling State (15-13, 9-6) on Saturday at Hobdy Assembly Center in Grambling, La.
The Golden Lions went 17 of 46 (37%) from the floor, but they went just 1 of 15 (6.7%) from the three-point line. The Tigers, who led 25-21 at halftime, went 20 of 51 (39.2%) from the floor and didn't fare much better from the three-point line, hitting 3 of 14 shots (21.4%). UAPB outscored Grambling State in the lane 30-28 despite being outrebounded 30-29, but the Tigers made up for it with 16 steals, 18 points off turnovers and 29 points off the bench.
Prince Moss led Grambling State with 15 points and Devante Jackson added 10.
SOUTHLAND WOMEN
ABILENE CHRISTIAN 93,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 71
Briana Trigg scored 21 points on Saturday as the University of Central Arkansas (11-16, 7-11 Southland Conference) fell to Abilene Christian (22-5, 14-4) at Moody Coliseum in Abilene, Texas.
The Sugar Bears led 15-14 after the first quarter, but the Wildcats outscored UCA 79-56 the rest of the way, including 27-16 in the third quarter. Central Arkansas shot 38% (25 of 66) from the floor, but shot 15% (4 of 26) from the three-point line. Abilene Christian, however, shot 61% (31 of 51) from the floor, including 11 of 22 three-pointers. The Wildcats outrebounded the Sugar Bears 36-31, held a 40-36 scoring advantage in the lane and scored 19 points off UCA turnovers.
Taylor Sells had 18 points for Central Arkansas and Ayanna Trigg added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor to go with a team-high nine rebounds. Breanna Wright scored a game-high 25 points to lead Abilene Christian, while Lexie Ducat had 15, Dominique Golightly added 14 and Anna McLeod chipped in with 11.
SWAC WOMEN
UAPB 82,
GRAMBLING STATE 64
Aiya El Hassan and Noe'll Taylor scored 17 points each to lead the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (7-20, 6-11 Southwestern Athletic Conference) to a victory over Grambling State (3-23, 2-13) on Saturday at Hobdy Assembly Center in Grambling, La.
The Golden Lions shot 46.4% (32 of 69) from the floor, including 7-of-12 (58.3%) shooting from the three-point line. The Tigers shot 35.45 (23 of 65) from the floor and hit just 3 of 21 three-pointers (14.3%). UAPB outrebounded Grambling State 42-33 and held a 42-34 scoring edge in the lane. That helped to offset Grambling's 20 fast-break points and 34 points off the bench.
Kyeonia Harris added 15 points for the Golden Lions. Justice Coleman scored a game-high 25 points in the loss for the Tigers and Mylashia Yancy had 17.
-- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sports on 03/01/2020