STATE DIVISION I ROUNDUPS

SUN BELT MEN LOUISIANA-MONROE 85, ARKANSAS STATE 75

Louisiana-Monroe scored the game’s first eight points, led 24-8 midway through the first half and held off an Arkansas State University rally in the second half to earn a Sun Belt Conference victory at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La. ASU (7-8, 1-1) got as close as 56-53 with 9:31 to play, but ULM responded by scoring the next seven points and the Red Wolves never got any closer than four points the rest of the way. Daishon Smith led ULM (9-5, 2-0) with 24 points. Ty Cockfield scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to lead Arkansas State. He was 9 of 19 from the floor. Arkansas State also picked up 17 points from Marquis Eaton, 14 from Tristin Walley and 13 from Grantham Gillard. Walley led ASU in rebounding with eight. Arkansas State was guilty of 13 turnovers, compared to only seven for ULM.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 75, UALR 61

Rayjon Tucker scored 36 points on 11-of-15 shooting, but JaKeenan Gant countered with 45 points on 15-of-21 shooting from the floor to give Louisiana-Lafayette (10-5, 1-1 Sun Belt) the victory over UALR (5-10, 0-2) at the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. After a layup by Jeremy Hayes tied the game at 8-8 with 14:31 left in the first half, the Ragin’ Cajuns went on a 10-0 run over the next 3:12 to take an 18-8 lead after Gant’s free throws with 11:19 remaining. Marquis Nowell, who was the only other Trojans player in double figures with 14 points, ended the run with a three-pointer that cut the lead to 18-11 with 10:57 left. Nowell made two free throws with 9:22 left to trim the lead to three at 2017, and another Nowell three-pointer with 4:37 remaining cut the lead to 2726, but that’s as close as the Trojans would get.

SOUTHLAND MEN CENTRAL ARKANSAS 73, SE LOUISIANA 71

Matthew Mondesir’s tip-in with 0.2 seconds left allowed Central Arkansas to escape Hammond, La., with a Southland Conference victory. Mondesir, a 6-5 sophomore from Los Angeles, rebounded Deandre Jones’ missed layup and hit the game-winning jumper from inside the lane. Southeastern Louisiana called a timeout but could not get off a last-second shot. The victory was the first in 12 tries for the Bears at the University Center. Jones led the Bears (6-9, 1-1) with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Jones also had four steals and two assists. Thatch Unruh added 12 points for UCA. Mondesir scored seven points, and his last-second offensive rebound was only the third of the game for the Bears. UCA overcame a 27-point effort from Southeastern Louisiana’s Marlain Veal. Southeastern Louisiana (4-11, 0-2) trailed 30-20 at the half and by nine with 7:11 remaining, but took a 69-67 lead on two free throws by Veal with 1:20 left. Mondesir tied the game at 69-69 with a layup at the 1:12 mark, and another layup by Unruh with 0:17 showing allowed the Bears to take a 71-69 advantage. Southeastern Louisiana’s Brandon Gonzalez hit a jumper with 0:12 left to set up Mondesir’s heroics.

SUN BELT WOMEN ARKANSAS STATE 64, LOUISIANA-MONROE 54

Arkansas State University outscored Louisiana-Monroe 17-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Warhawks at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro. Jada Ford came off the bench to lead ASU (7-6, 2-0) with 22 points, hitting 6 of 7 three-point attempts, while Payton Tennison added 11 points and Peyton Martin 10. ULM (6-7, 0-2) held a 41-40 advantage with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter, but ASU responded by scoring the next seven points and never trailed again. Arsula Clark led Louisiana-Monroe with 18 points. Lauren Fitch scored 14. ULM was 21 of 59 (35.6 percent) from the floor while ASU hit 20 of 52 (38.5 percent). The Warhawks also outrebounded the Red Wolves 39-33, but ASU made 15 of 22 free-throw attempts while Louisiana-Monroe was 6 of 6.

SOUTHLAND WOMEN SE LOUISIANA 62, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 53

Southeastern Louisiana scored 11 of the game’s final 13 points to pull away from Central Arkansas in a Southland Conference women’s game in Hammond, La. Leading 53-51 with 2:11 remaining, Southeastern Louisiana closed out the game by hitting seven free throws and two field goals. Keturah Bingham had season-highs of 14 points and seven rebounds for the Sugar Bears (5-7, 0-2). Alana Canady added eight points and six rebounds. Maddie Goodner and Kamry Orr each handed out five assists. Southeastern Louisiana (6-7, 1-1) was paced by Celica Sterling’s 20 points, while the Lady Lions also picked up a 12-point, 10-rebound effort from Caitlyn Williams.

SWAC WOMEN MISS. VALLEY STATE 62, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 56

Mississippi Valley State snapped an eight-game losing streak, defeating the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener at the H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff. Mississippi Valley State (2-10, 1-0) led by as many as 13 points with 0:41 left in the third quarter. UAPB (2-5, 0-1) could only get as close as the final score. Junior forward Aiya El Hassan led the Lady Lions with 11 points while sophomore Kyeonia Harris dropped in 10. Junior Sha’Kendra Tilley pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. Makayla Bonner scored 18 points for Mississippi Valley State, which scored the game’s first six points and never trailed. Mississippi Valley State led 3727 at the half. UAPB hit only 20 of 71 field-goal attempts (28.2 percent), including a 2 of 17 effort from three-point range. The Devilettes were 19-of-49 shooting (38.8 percent).