UALR rallied from down 8 points late in regulation to tie
the game and send it to overtime. Then UALR rallied from six points down in
overtime to win. The Trojans are now 3-0 on the road in Sun Belt play this
season.
“It’s a credit to our senior leadership,” UALR Coach Steve
Shields said. “We’ve grown from game one when you think back to the north
florida game. We’ve continued to get better. Last week we talked about not
having the edge that we needed. Tonight we had a good focus.”
UALR is 9-8 on the season and 4-1 in Sun Belt Conference
play. Much like UALR had to do last week, WKU played without leading scorer
T.J. Price, who was suspended just before gametime. WKU drops to 10-7 overall
and 2-2 in Sun Belt play. The Tops are 2-0 on the road and 0-2 at home in Sun
Belt play.
Senior Will Neighbour had a career high 32 points and 7
rebounds to lead UALR. He made 11 of 14 field goals and 9 of 11 free throws. He
also returned to the game late in regulation after being sidelined after
hitting his head on the floor.
“He showed a lot of toughness after hitting his head. We had
to get him out of the game. He tapped me on the shoulder and said he’s ready to
go back. We needed him at the end of the game,” Shields said.
Sophomores Josh Hagins and Kemy Osse each added 15 and
sophomore James White had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Hagins did virtually all of his damage with the game on the
line. He nailed a three-pointer with 22 seconds left in regulation to cut
Western Kentucky’s lead to 70-69. Then after a UALR foul, WKU’s Brandon Harris
made 1 of 2 free throws and UALR got it back. The Trojans went right back to
Hagins who hit a short jumper with 8 seconds left to tie the game.
UALR then had to survive a couple of looks to force
overtime. First Hagins blocked the three-point attempt of Chris Harrison-Docks
and the ball went out of bounds with 3 seconds left. WKU then ran a play for
Harris, but his three-pointer at the buzzer was also blocked by Hagins.
WKU got off to a fast start in overtime when Alex Rostov hit
back to back three-pointers to give the Hilltoppers a 77-71 lead. But UALR
clawed back again. Osse hit a tough jumper, then stole the ball and scored on a
layup for a 77-75 score with 2:42 remaining.
After missed three-pointers by Harrison-Docks and Rostov, Neighbour
drove and hit a tough runner for a 77-77 score with 1:44 left.
George Fant made two free throws to put WKU back up 2
points, but Hagins answered with a step back three-pointer, silencing the
Diddle crowd and giving UALR an 80-79 lead with :55 left.
WKU came right back and Harrison-Docks hit a baseline jumper
with 32 seconds left to give the Hilltoppers an 81-80 lead. But UALR answered
again. This time White slipped a perfect pass to Neighbour for a wide-open
layup and an 82-81 Trojans’ lead.
WKU had its chance when Fant grabbed an offensive rebound.
But his putback was blocked by White and Neighbour grabbed the rebound. He hit
two free throws with 7 seconds left for an 84-81 lead.
UALR then chose to intentionally foul to prevent a
three-pointer. And Harrison-Docks made both free throws for an 84-83 score.
UALR inbounded to Hagins and he made two free throws to push the lead back to
86-83. WKU threw a long pass toward center court that was intercepted by
Hagins, who made a free throw to ice the victory.
UALR shot 58.2 percent from the field, including 5 of 9 from
three-point range. UALR also made 18 of 22 free throws and outrebounded Western
Kentucky 31-30.
