Texas State beats South Alabama; clinches Sun Belt tourney spot
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Cameron Naylor scored 22 points, Emani Gant added 18 and grabbed 11 rebounds and Texas State clinched a spot in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 68-57 victory over South Alabama on Saturday night.
The Bobcats (14-15, 8-12) are the No. 7 seed while South Alabama (13-18, 8-12) is the eighth seed in Thursday's first round tournament games.
Naylor was 10 of 15 from the floor and had nine rebounds. Gant made 6 of 18 field goals was 6 of 8 from the line.
Nick Stover scored 10 points to lead South Alabama.
The Jaguars had a 49-45 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Texas State answered with a 15-1 run to take a 58-50 lead with five minutes left and cruised from there. Naylor had five points and the Jaguars missed five shots and had a turnover during the stretch.
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Appalachian State beats Arkansas State 80-73
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Griffin Kinney scored 18 points as Appalachian State beat Arkansas State 80-73 on Saturday in the season finale for both teams.
Frank Eaves and Emarius Logan added 12 points apiece for the Mountaineers (9-22, 7-13 Sun Belt).
Arkansas State surged 15-2 early for a 21-15 lead with 10:26 left in the first half. Appalachian State battled back and Logan drained a pair of 3-pointers in the final three minutes to help put the Mountaineers on top 42-41 at halftime.
In the second half, a Devin Carter 3-pointer put Arkansas State up 67-64 with 5:10 to go. Ronshad Shabazz made a pair of free throws to put the Mountaineers on top for good, 72-71, with 2:13 remaining. Kinney sank a layup and Eaves hit a 3-pointer in the final 1:20 to seal the win.
Carter and Anthony Livingston each had 12 points for the Red Wolves (11-20, 7-13).
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Deng, Roberson lead UL Monroe past Georgia St., 91-78
MONROE, La. (AP) Majok Deng scored 22 points and Justin Roberson added 19 as hot-shooting UL Monroe ended the regular season on a nine-game winning streak, defeating Georgia State 91-78 on Saturday.
UL Monroe enters next week's Sun Belt Conference Tournament as the second seed and has a double bye into the semifinals. Sixth-seeded Georgia State meets the seventh seed on Thursday.
Deng and Roberson were among four players to reach double figures - DeMondre Harvey scored 17 and Jamaal Samuel 12 - as the Warhawks made 60 percent of their field goals, 31 of 52, including 8 of 21 3-pointers. Nick Coppola had 11 assists to go with six points and is 10 shy of setting the school's all-time assist mark.
UL Monroe (19-12, 15-5) ended the first half on a 21-4 run come from behind.
Markus Crider scored 18 points to lead Georgia State (16-13, 9-11), Jeremy Hollowell added 16.
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UT Arlington runs away from Troy 90-55
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Kennedy Eubaks had 15 points and Erick Neal added 14 as UT Arlington ran away from Troy 90-55 on Saturday night.
Eubanks had 11 points in the first half. Neal drilled 4 of 8 from long range. Jalen Jones had 11 points and Jorge Bilbao added 10 and pulled down 10 rebounds for UT Arlington (22-9, 13-7 Sun Belt Conference) which has the second most wins in a season in program history.
The Mavericks, who have won eight of their last 11 games, have locked down the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the conference tournament which starts Thursday.
Troy was up 19-16 with 7:41 left in the first half. The Mavericks ended the first half on 14-3 run to lead 46-26 at the break.
UT Arlington shot 48.5 percent from the field while limiting Troy to just 23.9 percent.
John Walton III led Troy (9-22, 4-16) with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
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UL Lafayette beats Georgia Southern, 87-78
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Senior Kasey Shepherd scored 20 points on Senior Night and cemented a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Conference tournament that begins Thursday by knocking off Georgia Southern, 87-78 in the regular season finale Saturday.
The Ragin' Cajuns will have the No. 4 seed into the conference tournament and, along with UT Arlington, will have a first-round bye.
UL Lafayette took a 38-35 lead at intermission, but the Eagles battled back to take several brief leads in the second half. Georgia Southern cut the lead to three points on a three-point play by Tookie Brown with 4:32 left in the game, but Devonta Walker answered with a layup and Hayward Register collected a steal and a layup to make it 76-69 with 3:54 left.
Walker finished with 16 points for UL Lafayette (16-13, 12-8).
Brown paced Georgia Southern (14-16, 10-10) with 25 points and Mike Hughes added 22.