BURN THE HORSE
In control for most of the afternoon, UALR’s youngsters tightened up
down the stretch. But the Trojans did enough to hold of Tulsa 72-65 on Saturday
afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
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65 72 |
UALR (8-4), the youngest team in all of Division I according to
StatsSheet.com, improved to 7-0 at home and beat its second Conference USA
opponent this season. Tulsa (6-4) loses for the second time in two visits all
time to the Jack Stephens Center.
Freshman point guard John Gillon led UALR with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4
assists and a steal. UALR’s other point guard freshman Josh Hagins had 11
points, 5 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals. Freshman James White also had 12
points while sophomore Michael Javes played some of his best minutes of the
season, finishing with 7 points and 5 rebounds.
UALR wraps up nonconference play when it hosts Louisiana Tech on
Monday.
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| UALR's Josh Hagins |
It was a contentious game throughout with both UALR Coach Steve Shields
and Tulsa Coach Danny Manning frustrated with Saturday night (afternoon) Sun
Belt officiating. It also featured a couple of hard, intentional fouls called
against Tulsa on fast breaks by UALR.
UALR never trailed and has only trailed during one home game in the
second half this season (Troy). UALR Coach Steve Shields went for a slightly
more veteran lineup, inserting sophomore’s Ben Dillard and Taggart Lockhart.
Lockhart nailed a three-pointer in the opening minute, a sign of things to
come. UALR made 8 of 14 three-pointers in the game, including 3 of 3 from
Gillon.
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| James White |
But the game was ultimately won – and nearly lost – at the free throw
line. UALR made 26 of 40 (60 percent) while Tulsa made 16 of 28 (57 percent).
UALR’s misses kept the Trojans from further expanding their lead to
more than 10-12 points most of the second half. It also left the door open for
a late Tulsa run that saw the Golden Hurricane cut the lead to 64-60 on two
free throws by Scottie Haralson with 2:45 left.
Hagins made a pair of free throws, then made 1 of 2 for a 67-60 lead.
And after a missed three-pointer by James Woodard, Hagins made 1 of 2 again for
a 68-60 lead.
Tulsa got no closer than 70-65 with 29 seconds left. But Gillon made 1
of 2 free throws for a six point lead and Hagins secured a rebound to put the
game out of reach.
