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70 66 |
The loss dropped UALR (14-10, 8-5) into a tie with Arkansas State in
the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division. Arkansas State rallied to beat North
Texas in overtime on Saturday.
UALR pulled the Houdini act a couple of times before, most recently in
their previous home game when they rallied from 22 points down to beat Florida
Atlantic.
UALR was lifeless from the start on Saturday, falling behind by 15
points in a first half that saw the Trojans shoot 37 percent, commit 11
turnovers and miss seven free throws. It was a minor miracle UALR got it back
to within 36-26 at halftime.
UALR never really made its move until the final five minutes. Down 9
points, Josh Hagins hit two free throws and Kemy Osse a three-pointer,
sandwiched around a South Alabama free throw, for a 64-59 deficit with 2:34
left.
After a turnover, Ben Dillard drove inside and scored as he was fouled.
His free throw made it 64-62 with 1:48 left.
UALR then got a defensive stop and ran a pretty good set at the other
end. It got Will Neighbour an open look at a three-pointer with 1:19 left. The
ball spun around the rim and out. South Alabama then put the game out of reach when
Mychal Ammons posted up James White, driving on him to score a layup for a
66-62 lead with 47 seconds left.
UALR did get to within 69-66 with 10 seconds left. But Ammons made 1 of
2 free throws to clinch the victory.
UALR made 21 of 61 field goals for the game for 34.4 percent. Of their
25 misses inside the three-point arc, nearly half came from less than two feet
from the basket.
Dillard led UALR with 15 points while Hagins added 13. Neighbour
finished with 6 points and 10 rebounds. But he made just 3 of 11 field goals
and never could get going offensively.
