UALR holds off Louisiana-Monroe to earn Sun Belt road victory

BURN THE HORSE

   MONROE, La. -- UALR took a huge early lead and then made it hold up late with a 61-53 road victory over Louisiana-Monroe at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La.

61        53

   Solomon Bozeman led UALR with 18 points, while Alex Garcia-Mendoza had 14 and Matt Mouzy 11. But the continued emergence of Marlon Louzeiro proved a big difference. Louzeiro had 11 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Five of those 12 rebounds were offensive rebounds. And he did it while staying out of foul trouble.
   UALR led by 32-10 in the first half before a near collapse late in the game.
   The Warhawks, who were blown out by Arkansas State on Thursday and had their coach call them out for their effort, fought back and cut the lead to 51-48 with 5:07 left.
   UALR didn’t fold. Louzeiro assisted on a Bozeman layup, and then after a Louisiana-Monroe miss, Bozeman hit two free throws for a 55-58 lead.
   With the score 55-50, Bozeman hit two free throws before ULM’s Fred Brown hit a three-pointer for a 57-53 score with 1:49 left.
   UALR needed basket and got it from Bozeman, who pulled up in the lane and hit a jump shot for a 59-53 lead with 1:18 left.
   UALR put the game out of reach after a Louzeiro offensive rebound led to two free throws by Garcia-Mendoza with 18 seconds left.
   UALR hit 17 three-pointers in a victory over Louisiana-Monroe in Little Rock. This time, UALR hit only 7 of 17 but it was enough. The Trojans also made 16 of 21 free throws and held a 33-30 advantage in rebounds.
   Mouzy hit 3 of 7 three-pointers, while Louzeiro (1-1), D’Andre Williams (1-2), Garcia-Mendoza (1-3) and Bozeman (1-2) each hit one.