Sophomore guard Tyler Pyburn hit five three-pointers and finished with 23 points as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff defeated Arkansas State University 85-68 Friday night at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.
The Golden Lions (1-0) took the lead for good 41 seconds into the second quarter, led 40-36 at the half and outscored the Red Wolves 21-11 in the fourth quarter. UAPB started 0-9 last season.
Four UAPB players scored 16 or more points. Sophomore ShiCoriya Orr added 19 points. Senior Trasity Totten put in 17 and senior Joyce Kennerson chipped in with 16. Sophomore Nissa Sam-Grant led the Golden Lions with 10 rebounds.
Senior Morgan Wallace paced Arkansas State (0-1) with 15 points and eight rebounds.
UAPB hit 28 of 63 shots from the floor, including a 10 of 26 effort from three-point range. Arkansas State connected on 24 of 66 field-goal attempts, but struggled from long range, making only 5 of 31 from beyond the arc.
The Golden Lions outrebounded the Red Wolves 43-38 and held a 21-13 in bench scoring.
Jireh Washington added 12 points for Arkansas State. Trinitee Jackson and Karolina Szydlowska each scored 10.
MEN
UNC-GREENSBORO 77, UALR 70
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock squandered an 11-point first half lead in a loss to the UNC-Greensboro Spartans at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
The Spartans trailed 24-13 with 6:33 left in the first half but scored 34 of the next 42 points to take a 47-32 lead with 15:55 remaining in the second half.
Isaiah Miller led the Spartans with 24 points, hitting 10 of 13 shots to go along with 4 assists and 5 steals.
Nikola Maric led the Trojans (1-1) with 21 points, going 9 of 9 from the floor and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line. Maric scored 19 of his points in the second half. Marko Lukic scored 19 points and had four assists. Markquis Nowell had 10 points and handed out a game-high six assists.
UALR got as close as 58-55 with 5:11 remaining. Trailing 66-62, UALR was outscored 11-8 in the game's final 2:30.
The Trojans were 24-of-48 shooting but were outrebounded 39-24. Greensboro hit 27 of 59 field-goal attempts.
MARSHALL 70, ARKANSAS STATE 56
Marshall used a 13-2 run midway through the second half to pull away from Arkansas State University in Huntington, W. Va., in the season opener for both teams.
Senior Marquis Eaton led the Red Wolves with 13 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Caleb Fields added 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals.
Taevion Kinsey led Marshall with 17 points.
Arkansas State trailed 29-22 at the half but got to within one possession three different times before the Thundering Herd pulled away.
Marshall led by as many as 18 (62-44) with 5:13 to play.
Arkansas State hit 21 of 55 shots from the floor and were 3 of 12 from three-point range. The Red Wolves struggled from the free-throw line, hitting only 11 of 23 shots.
Marshall was 29 of 66 from the floor and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line.
Junior Tim Holland matched Eaton with eight rebounds. Junior Keyon Wesley scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds in his Red Wolves' debut.