 |
68 77 |
Five Trojans scored in double figures as UALR (16-14, 10-9)
clinched no worse than the No. 6 seed at next week’s Sun Belt Tournament. UALR
will be the No. 5 seed, and earn a first-round bye, if the Trojans beat
Arkansas State on Saturday or Western Kentucky loses to Middle Tennessee.
Louisiana-Lafayette (11-19, 7-12) was eliminated from bye
consideration with the loss.
Will Neighbour had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead UALR.
Josh Hagins had 14 points and 7 rebounds, John Gillon and Ben Dillard 13 points
apiece and Leroy Isler 10 points and 5 rebounds.
UALR, which hadn’t shot 40 percent, or scored 30 first-half
points in any of the previous four games, busted both of those on Thursday.
UALR shot 49 percent from the field, 43 percent from three-point range and made
23 of 29 free throws. And UALR held a 36-26 halftime lead.
UALR led the majority of the game and took the lead for good
midway through the first half. And it was crisp passing that led to easy
baskets.
First Gillon found Neighbour for a layup to tie the game
17-17. Then Gillon found Dillard for a layup and a 19-17 lead. James White fed
Hagins for a layup and a 21-17 lead. And Dillard scored on a layup after a pass
from Hagins for a 23-17 lead with 8:20 left.
UALR stretched the lead to 59-43 with 10:59 left after a
layup by Gillon. Then things got a bit tight. Louisiana-Lafayette got to within
62-58 with 5:28 left after two free throws by Elfrid Payton. On the ensuing
possession, Neighbour hit a three-pointer from the corner to extend the lead
back to 65-58. Louisiana-Lafayette never got any closer than six points the
rest of the game.
