Trojans hang on, put away Redhawks
UALR 66, SE MISSOURI STATE 61
The University of Arkansas-Little Rock men used balanced scoring and a stingy defensive effort in a 66-61 win over Southeast Missouri State on Saturday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 1,356 at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
Khalen Robinson and Jamir Chaplin led the Trojans with 13 points apiece. DeAntoni Gordon finished with 11 points.
UALR (11-10, 5-3 Ohio Valley Conference) got a punch off the bench for the second game in a row. Makhel Mitchell played 19 minutes and recorded 12 points and 7 rebounds. Bradley Douglas also had nine points off the bench for the Trojans.
“I feel like my production is going up,” Mitchell said. “Blocked shots, just getting back to myself. I knew my time was coming, so I just stayed prepared.”
“I thought Makhel was great with 19 minutes, 12 [points] and 7 [rebounds] and 2 blocks,” UALR Coach Darrell Walker said. “I don’t know how many more shots he did change. He’s getting more comfortable. It’s a luxury to bring him and Bradley Douglas off the bench.”
There were 10 lead changes in the first half. Southeast Missouri (7-14, 2-6) got a spark just before halftime, scoring two baskets in the final seven seconds to take a 33-30 lead into the break.
The game remained tight as it moved into the second half. UALR regained the lead for several minutes, but a 7-0 run capped by a three-pointer from Rob Martin at the 13:44 mark of the second half gave the lead back to the Redhawks at 42-40.
The Trojans took the lead back several minutes later as Douglas got a three-pointer to drop with the assistance of a fortunate bounce to give the Trojans a 52-50 advantage with 7:19 remaining.
Southeast Missouri had a scoring drought of nearly six minutes that allowed UALR’s lead to grow to 56-50 before a mid-range jumper from Adam Larson ended the dry spell and pulled the Redhawks to within 56-52 with 3:54 left in the game.
A slam dunk by Southeast Missouri’s Marqueas Ball tied the game at 56-56 with 2:43 remaining. The teams exchanged several baskets in the final moments and a pair of free throws by Robinson gave the Trojans a 62-59 lead with 39 seconds left.
Following a missed three-pointer by Larson, Douglas added another free throw to make it at 63-59 with 19.2 seconds remaining. Martin then quickly raced down the floor and made a layup while being fouled to cut the lead to 63-61, but he was unable to convert the three-point play.
Mitchell and Douglas converted on free throws inside the final 15 seconds to seal the victory for the Trojans.
The Redhawks were 25 of 60 (41.7%) from the field and hit 8 of 28 (28.6%) shots from three-point range.
“I thought it was a great defensive effort by my team,” Walker said. “They really competed on the defensive side. That’s 40 minutes of defending right there holding a team to 61 points. I’m proud of that and proud that we took care of business at home.”
UALR won the rebounding battle 40-30. Mitchell secured several big rebounds down the stretch along with Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, who finished with 10 boards. The Trojans finished with 12 offensive rebounds.
“Offensive and defensive rebounding is very important,” Mitchell said. “If you’re not doing too good shooting the ball, you might get some second chance shots. Defensively, you box out and get that rebound and then you’re off to the races. That’s where we thrive at in transition, playing with a fast pace.”
“We going in the right direction,” Walker said. “I see a calmness on this team right now as far as in crunch time when the game is on the line and you got to make a play or get a stop defensively. Those 12 offensive rebounds were big. We got three or four of them late in the last six minutes of the game, which was big as we were able to get some putbacks. I’ve been harping on that. Overall, I thought it was a really good team effort.”
OHIO VALLEY WOMEN UALR 53,
SE MISSOURI STATE 47
Faith Lee scored a game-high 19 points and made a critical three-point basket late as Arkansas-Little Rock outlasted Southeast Missouri State on Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
Lee shot 7 of 15 from the field and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line. With UALR (712, 6-2 Ohio Valley Conference) holding a 48-45 lead with 1:32 left in the game, Lee hit a three-pointer from the right wing that pushed the lead to 51-45.
Leilani Wimbish-Gay also finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for UALR. Despite shooting 35.7% from the field, the Trojans made up for it on the defensive end, holding the Redhawks to just 27% shooting.
Southeast Missouri (6-13, 3-5) was led by Alecia Doyle, who finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Indiya Bowen also scored 11 points for the Redhawks, while Daejah Richmond added 10 points.