UALR improves to 3-4 on the season and has won 3 of its past
4 games. UAFS remains 6-0 on the season and No. 18 in NCAA Division II (the
game counts as an exhibition for them). The game reunited UALR Coach Steve
Shields and UAFS Coach Josh Newmann, who was once a Shields’ juco assistant.
Senior forward Will Neighbour led UALR with 20 points and 5
rebounds. Freshman Mareik Isom had 12 while sophomores Josh Hagins and James
White each had 11 points. White turned his night into a double-double with 11
rebounds.
Junior point guard DeVonte Smith was nearly perfect. He
finished with 5 points but had 9 assists with 0 turnovers in a team-high 30
minutes of action.
UALR was sharp from the start, taking a quick 11-1 lead on
the strength of inside play from Neighbour and White. UAFS cut the lead to 2
midway through the first half before a UALR run put the Trojans up 45-29 at
halftime.
UAFS hung around shooting the three-pointer in the second
half. But the Lions never got closer than 12 points in the second half. The lead reached 25 points before UAFS made a garbage-time run.
UALR was over 50 percent shooting from the field most of the
night. The Trojans ended up at 47.7 percent, including 42.9 percent from
three-point range. UALR held a 45-29 rebounding advantage against a UAFS team
that had been outrebounding its opponents by 12 per game.
UALR also had 19 assists, 6 steals and 3 blocked shots.
All 11 UALR players in uniform scored and played at least 10
minutes.
