Trojans come back in final 20 minutes

Jalen Jackson scored 16 of his season-high 18 points after halftime as UALR rallied for a 67-61 Sun Belt Conference victory over Troy on Saturday night in Troy, Ala.

Marcus Johnson Jr. scored a team-high 22 points for UALR, which trailed 34-29 at the half.

UALR (12-1, 2-0) connected on 12 of 22 shots (54.6 percent) while holding the host team to 6 of 23 shooting (26.1 percent) in the second half.

“I’m tired of getting off to these slow starts and talking about how proud I am of our guys fighting back, but same old story tonight,” UALR Coach Chris Beard said. “As a coaching staff we have to figure out how to get off to a better start.”

UALR made 9 of their first 11 shots of the second half to take a 51-44 lead midway through the half. The Trojans led by as many as nine points with 9:32 to play. Troy made a late push, drawing to within three on a three-pointer by Jordon Varnado with 46 seconds to play. UALR, however, scored the next four points from the free-throw line to hold on for the victory.

Johnson hit 4 of 8 threepoint attempts and was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. Jackson was 8 of 11 shooting. Maurius Hill matched a career-high with 12 rebounds to go along with his eight points. Josh Hagins totaled 6 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.

UALR outscored Troy 22- 10 inside the lane.

Varnado finished with 18 points and nine rebounds to lead Troy (5-8, 0-2).

UALR was 23 of 52 (44 percent) from the floor while Troy finished 19 of 55 (35 percent).

ARKANSAS STATE 89, SOUTH ALABAMA 67

Donte Thomas scored 14 points, handed out 11 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds as Arkansas State rolled in the second half on its way to a Sun Belt Conference victory over the Jaguars in Mobile, Ala.

Anthony Livingston led the Red Wolves (6-7, 2-0) with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Devin Carter posted his sixth 20-point game of the season, getting 20 points on 7 of 13 shooting.

Arkansas State led 35-33 at halftime and South Alabama managed to close to within 37-36 early in the second half, but that was as close as the Jaguars could get. The Red Wolves scored the next 10 points.

Arkansas State hit 19 of 27 shots (70 percent) in the second half and outscored South Alabama 54-34. The Red Wolves outrebounded the Jaguars 42-24 for the game.

Ken Williams led South Alabama (5-8, 0-2) with 23 points.

SOUTHLAND MEN ABILENE CHRISTIAN 62, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 61

CONWAY — Jordan Howard’s three-pointer bounced off the rim as time expired, allowing Abilene Christian to escape with a Southland Conference victory at the Farris Center.

Duran Porter made two free throws in the closing seconds to give the Wildcats the victory. Jaren Lewis led Abilene Christian (6-8, 1-0) with 14 points. Jaylen Franklin scored five of his 13 points in the final minutes to help the Wildcats close out the victory.

Porter made just 3 of 10 field-goal attempts, but he made all 4 free throws and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Howard finished with 18 points to lead UCA (1-10, 0-1).