BURN THE HORSE
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| 69 66 |
UALR snaps a lengthy losing streak against NCAA Division I opponents while starting Sun Belt play with a victory. The Trojans are now 4-10 on the season. North Texas, which loaded up cupcake victories in the preseason, drops to 7-7.
UALR had held a second-half lead in 8 of its previous 13 games, but was unable to hold on late. That wasn't the case on Thursday.
UALR sophomore Will Neighbour badly outplayed so-called NBA Lottery pick Tony Mitchell. Neighbour had 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Mitchell, who had nine NBA scouts in attendance to watch him, had 6 points and 3 rebounds.
D'Andre Williams also had 19 points for UALR. Chuck Guy had 12.
The Trojans led throughout the first half before North Texas surged to a five-point lead early in the second half. UALR responded by upping its lead to as much as 10 before North Texas rallied to make for the tight finish.
Reggie Fondren's three-pointer with 1:16 left gave UALR a 65-62 lead before North Texas' Roger Franklin cut the lead to 65-64. With the ball, Lockhart found a seam and drove inside and made the layup as he was hammered with 42 seconds left. His free throw put UALR up 68-64.
Another Franklin basket with 24 seconds left cut the lead to 68-66. Then North Texas didn't want to foul Williams. UALR was able to waste time, calling two timeouts, until Williams was finally fouled with 8 seconds left. Williams made 1 of 2 free throws for a 69-66 lead.
North Texas had one final shot but Jordan Williams missed a three.
