Senior Will Neighbour had 19 points to lead the way as UALR beat Calgary 81-65 in the final game of the Battle of the Border in Calgary. UALR finishes 1-2 in the three-day event.
One night after going 3 of 24 from three-point range, UALR flipped the script on Saturday night. The Trojans only attempted seven three-pointers all night (making 2) and dominated the paint (40-24 points in the paint) and free throw line (17 of 21 to Calgary's 11 of 13).
"We played with an edge, the ball moved, went inside, got to the foul line and rebounded the ball," UALR Coach Steve Shields told Burn The Horse via text after the game.
Freshman forward Maurius Hill added 15 points and 4 rebounds while sophomore Kemy Osse had 12 points and 4 rebounds. Junior Gus Leeper had 8 points and 8 rebounds and junior J.T. Thomas 8 points.
UALR outrebounded Calgary by 13 (39-26) while holding the Dinos to 37.1 percent.
Junior DeVonte Smith hit a late first quarter three-pointer to give UALR an 18-14 lead. Calgary rallied to take a 24-23 lead on a three-pointer by Jhony Verrone but the Trojans soon took control.
UALR regained the lead and increased it on back-to-back jumpers by Osse. Two free throws by Thomas made it 29-24. UALR led 35-31 at halftime.
UALR opened the second half with a quick three-point play by Neighbour. The Trojans finally got the lead to 10 points (actually 11) after sophomore Josh Hagins scored on a layup, then got a rebound at the other end and fed Thomas for another layup to make it 46-35.
The lead reached 23 points after a steal by Osse led to a jump shot by junior Gus Leeper and a 60-37 lead with 2:29 left in the third quarter. UALR led 60-43 after three.
Calgary never cut the lead to less than double digits in the fourth quarter.
