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62 65 |
An improbable putback capped an even more improbable
comeback for UALR on Thursday. Kemy Osse’s putback with 35 seconds left was the
game winner as UALR rallied from a 22-point first-half deficit to beat Florida
Atlantic 65-62 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
UALR was lifeless in the first half before responding with a
huge second half. Will Neighbour scored a career high 24 points to lead the
Trojans (13-9, 7-4), who hold on to their narrow lead over Arkansas State in
the Sun Belt’s West Division.
It didn’t look like it was going to happen in the first
half. FAU used a 19-0 run to take a 33-11 lead late in the first half. It got
so bad that UALR Coach Steve Shields brought in senior walk-on Ted Crass to try
and spark some momentum. It worked.
UALR scored the final five points of the first half, cutting
the lead to 35-19 on a three-pointer by Neighbour at the buzzer.
UALR was clearly different in the second half, but still
wasn’t getting enough defensive stops early. But that changed throughout the
half as the Trojans started cutting the lead minute by minute. UALR finally
tied the game at 60-60 on a jump shot by Josh Hagins with 1:54 left.
After the teams traded points, UALR had the ball with the
game tied 62-62. The Trojans didn’t get a good look with Isler throwing up a
desperation shot late in the shot clock. It missed for an airball but Kemy Osse
caught the ball under the basket and scored, barely beating the shot clock for
a 64-62 lead with 35 seconds left.
It was a long way from over. UALR had to get stop after stop
in the final seconds. First, UALR knocked
a loose ball out of bounds. Then after a FAU miss, Osse was called for
traveling with 11.1 seconds left. The ball was knocked out of bounds again with
9.7 left. From there, FAU threw the ball away.
UALR got the ball inbounds to John Gillon. He missed the
first but made the second free throw for a 65-62 lead.
FAU had one final chance but Gantt stepped out of bounds
with the ball and the Owls never got a final shot attempt.
UALR held the nation’s third leading scorer Gantt to 13
points (he averages 22.5). But Stefan Moody torched UALR’s point guards all
night, scoring 24 points.
