Bad second half dooms Trojans at home

GEORGIA SOUTHERN 67, UALR 61

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock men’s basketball team lost its fifth consecutive Sun Belt Conference game, 67-61 to Georgia Southern on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

UALR (5-17, 2-7 Sun Belt) led Georgia Southern (16-7, 7-3) at halftime, 30-24, but the Eagles gained the lead in the second half with spurts of 3-pointers and dunks to keep them tied for third place in the conference standings.

The loss ensured that the Trojans remained in last place.

The Trojans held a 20-8 lead with 6:18 left in the first half after junior guard Camron Reedus’ layup finished off a 7-0 run.

Reedus, who finished with 11 points and was 3 of 5 on 3-pointers, made a 3-pointer to stop Georgia Southern’s 6-0 run to give the Trojans a 23-14 lead with 4:27 left in the first half.

Georgia Southern earned the go-ahead lead on a 3-pointer by freshman guard Quan Jackson, which made the score 41-39 with 13:09 left in the game. The Eagles then grew their lead with a slew of free throws, making 18 of 21 attempts during the second half, 23 of 29 total.

Eagles senior guard Mike Hughes, who scored a teamhigh 14 points, made 9 of 10 free-throw attempts.

UALR sophomore guard Andre Jones scored 13 of his game-high 18 points during the second half, and his 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the game brought the Trojans to within 58-52.

The Trojans made 5 of their last 6 shots, but could not get any closer.

UALR had the advantage in nearly every team statistic other than turnovers. The Trojans’ turnovers outnumbered Georgia Southern 179, and the Eagles scored 19 points off them.

UALR will next host Georgia State on Saturday at 5 p.m.

GEORGIA STATE 77, ARKANSAS STATE 66

Deven Simms scored a game-high 28 points, but Arkansas State University (815, 3-7) lost to Georgia State (17-6, 8-2) on Thursday in Jonesboro.

Simms shot 9 of 17 from the floor and also had 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

Marquis Eaton added 14 points for the Red Wolves, who shot 36.1 percent (22 of 61).

D’Marcus Simonds led the Panthers with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Malik Benlevi and Jeff Thomas each scored 13 points. Benlevi had a teamhigh 10 rebounds. Jordan Session and Isaiah Williams both had 10 points.

ASU trailed 32-29 at halftime, but took a 50-48 lead with 10:49 remaining on Eaton’s layup. The lead lasted 29 seconds as Simonds’ layup tied the game at 50-50 and Benlevi’s 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 53-50 lead with 9:41 left.

WOMEN UALR 92, GEORGIA SOUTHERN 52

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock women’s basketball team won its 10th consecutive Sun Belt Conference game with a 92-52 victory over Georgia Southern on Thursday night at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.

The victory also was the 10th in a row overall for UALR (13-8, 10-0 Sun Belt) which scored more points at halftime, 53, than it had in nine games this season.

“Believe me, it felt good over on the bench,” said UALR Coach Joe Foley,

who coached in his 1,000th career game Thursday and now has a 758242 record. “It’s been tough watching recently, especially on the road. We’re not a great shooting team yet, but I think we’re turning it around. I can see us starting to understand the offense a lot better.”

The offensive surge came partly from a slew of 3-pointers by freshman guard Tori Lasker.

Lasker had 12 points by halftime and was 4 of 5 from 3-point distance, the last of which came before the halftime buzzer and gave the Trojans a 53-23 lead.

“That’s what we need,” said Foley, whose team entered the game as the Sun Belt’s 11th-ranked 3-point shooting team (27.4 percent). “Hopefully that’s a sign to come. We need someone who can bust open on the outside.”

The Trojans also dominated Georgia Southern (4-17, 1-9) near the basket, outscoring the Eagles 24-6 in the paint during the first half.

Junior forwards Ronjanae DeGray and Yanina Inkina combined for 27 points, and Inkina’s mid-range jump shot with two minutes left in the first half extended the UALR lead to 48-18 with a 10-2 run built on points scored entirely by Inkina and DeDeGray.

Georgia Southern was 6 of 18 (33.3 percent) shooting during the first half, and the Eagles were 8 of 12 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line.

UALR also scored 24 points off Georgia Southern’s 13 first-half turnovers, which helped the Trojans open the game with a 9-0 run. Eagles sophomore forward Hailey Dias-Allen lost control of the ball, which UALR senior point guard Monique Townson recovered and passed to Lasker for a 3-pointer.

Georgia Southern finished the game with 20 turnovers, and UALR outscored the Eagles 29-15 in points off them.

Townson, DeGray and freshman guard Terrion Moore each had two steals.

Foley, who is the Sun Belt career leader in victories (183), had another opportunity to reflect on a career that now has spanned 1,000 games.

ARKANSAS STATE 76, GEORGIA STATE 63

Lauren Bradshaw had 10 points and 11 rebounds to lead Arkansas State University (11-10, 6-4) past Georgia State (5-16, 1-9) on Thursday in Jonesboro.

Lycia Peevy and Akasha Westbrook each scored 11 points for the Red Wolves. Madison Heckert added 10 points off the bench.

ASU scored 26 points off 17 Georgia State turnovers.

The Panthers were led by Madison Newby with 15 points. Francesca Minali added 10 points and 11 rebounds.