State sports briefs

Late start fails to stop NLR

North Little Rock’s backfield accounted for 371 yards and five touchdowns en route to a 35-20 victory over Shreveport Evangel Christian in the eighth annual Battle of the Border on Friday night at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.

Senior fullback Tyler Day had 124 yards and two touchdowns, and junior tailback Brandon Thomas added 117 yards and a score in a game that didn’t start until 10:05 p.m. Central on Friday. It ended at 12:58 a.m. Saturday as Rashad Muhammad, Terrell Allen and Jordan Owens combined to sack Evangel quarterback Blake Shapen for a 22-yard loss near midfield.

North Little Rock (2-0) was in control from its opening drive and quickly built a 20-0 lead early in the first half. Sophomore Kareame Cotton capped the Charging Wildcats’ opening drive with a 4-yard quarterback keeper for the only first-quarter score, then Day ended the next two possessions with touchdown runs of 14 and 1 yards — the latter coming with 4:48 left in the first half.

Thomas scored from 10 yards out and had a 1-yard touchdown run in the second half for the Charging Wildcats.

Tamauge Sloan led Evangel offensively, rushing for 102 yards and 3 touchdowns.

VOLLEYBALL UCA sweeps UAPB

The University of Central Arkansas took a 25-11, 25-16, 25-10 victory over the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff on Saturday to win the UCA Invitational in Conway.

Haley Tippett had 11 kills and a match-high 10 digs for Central Arkansas (8-2), while Samantha Anderson turned in a match-high 13 kills and Bailey Waddington had 25 assists.

Cheyenne Odgers led UAPB (1-9) with 9 digs, Kendalle Howard and Haley Gomez had 4 kills each, and Britney Sahlmann had a team-high 12 assists.

ASU gets straight-set victory

Arkansas State University beat Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville on Saturday 25-15, 25-20, 25-15 in its final match at the Kangaroo Classic in Kansas City, Mo.

Carlisa May led the Red Wolves (5-5) with 14 kills, while Isabel Theut added 8 kills on a season-best .583 hitting percentage. Ellie Watkins had 30 assists. Tatum Ticknor had 11 digs for ASU, and Callie Weaver added 10.

UAFS holds off OBU

Taylor Stoops had a career-high 60 assists and Debra Rogers had a career-high 22 kills to lead the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith to a five-set victory over Ouachita Baptist University on Saturday at the Newman Classic in Wichita, Kan.

Anna Demmer had 14 kills and Faith Marabella added 11 for UAFS (7-5), while Erin Black and Lexi Castillow each served two of the Lady Lions’ eight aces.

Julianna Mack led OBU (10-3) with 16 digs.

ATU goes 1-1 at Crossover

Hunter Eshnaur had 24 kills and Amanda Milnick had 57 assists as Arkansas Tech University closed out the second day of the GAC/MIAA Crossover in Shawnee, Okla., with a split, downing Emporia State in the opener and falling to Central Oklahoma in the second game.

The Golden Suns (7-5) defeated Emporia State 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 before falling to Central Oklahoma 25-16, 25-17, 25-20.

Lyon splits two matches

Lyon College (7-4) rallied to beat Tabor College in five sets Saturday, then lost to Judson University at the EU Classic in Springfield, Mo.

Michayla Shanks had a career-high 21 kills in the victory over Tabor College, while Kendra Kelley had a season-high 16. Madisson Williams had a team-high 17 digs and Kaitlyn Jackson added 21 assists.