Georgia Southern tops Arkansas State, 72-60, tightens Sun Belt
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) Ike Smith scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Georgia Southern pulled away from Arkansas State in the second half of its Sun Belt Conference battle Saturday, earning a 72-60 victory.
The victory pulls George Southern (18-11, 11-5) even with the Red Wolves (19-9, 10-5) in the loss column with two games left in the Eagles' regular season. Arkansas State has three games remaining.
Georgia State, Georgia Southern, and Arkansas State all have five conference losses and are two games behind conference leader Texas-Arlington in the loss column.
The loss was Arkansas State's first on its home floor this season.
Tookie Brown finished with 17 points for the Eagles, who close out their regular season at Arkansas-Little Rock and at Georgia State.
Devin Carter scored 15 points as Arkansas State struggled from the field, hitting just 20 of 61 shots (32.8 percent) and 4 of 23 from long range. The Red Wolves shot 16 of 28 from the free throw line.
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Neal, Hervey lead UTA over South Alabama 86-75
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Erick Neal scored 16 points, Kevin Hervey had a double-double and UTA rolled to an 86-75 victory over South Alabama on Saturday for its sixth straight win.
UTA (22-6, 12-3 Sun Belt) entered the game with a one-game lead over Arkansas State atop the conference standings, and has won 10 of its last 11. South Alabama (13-15, 6-9) has lost three of its last four games.
Neal was 5 of 10 from the field and made four 3-pointers. Hervey finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Drew Charles added 13 points and Jorge Bilbao 12 for UTA, which shot 50 percent (28 of 56) from the floor and made 13 3-pointers.
Nick Stover scored 16 points to lead South Alabama.
The Mavericks led by double-digits for most of the second half, and had an 18-point lead with 11 minutes left.
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Georgia State still in title hunt with 71-54 win over Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Devin Mitchell scored 16 points and D'Marcus Simonds added 10 and Georgia State pulled away from Little Rock in the second half for a 71-54 win on Saturday night.
The Panthers entered the game tied for third place, and a game and a half back out of first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The top four teams earn a bye in the first round of the conference tournament.
Georgia State (18-10, 11-5) led 31-30 at intermission, and after the break, Jeremy Hollowell hit a 3 and Malik Benlevi had a 3-point play off a layup. Kemy Osse later made a 3 to reduce the Trojans' deficit to 41-38. Devin Mitchell countered with a 3 and a jumper for a 46-38 Panthers' lead.
LR (13-15, 4-11) couldn't get closer than seven (48-41) after a pair of free throws from Andre Jones with 10:21 left.
Lis Shoshi led LR with 12 points and Osse had 11.
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Louisiana edges Coastal Carolina 79-77
CONWAY, S.C. (AP) Frank Bartley IV scored 19 points, including the go-ahead free throws late in the second half, to lift Louisiana to a 79-77 win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
Johnathan Stove added 14 points, Justin Miller had 13 and Bryce Washington grabbed 11 rebounds for Louisiana, which has won three in a row.
Louisiana (17-11, 7-8 Sun Belt Conference) retook the lead during a 10-0 run bookended with Bartley layups to make it 75-67 with 2:26 left.
Coastal Carolina tied it at 77-all about two minutes later with Jaylen Shaw's 3-pointer but Bartley put the Ragin' Cajuns back on top with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left.
Demario Beck missed two free throws at the other end and Miller got the defensive rebound to seal it.
Shaw got 22 points for Coastal Carolina (14-15, 9-7), Elijah Wilson had 13 and Beck finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
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Texas State holds off Troy late, 61-59, breaks 5th-place tie
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Nijal Pearson hit a pair of free throws with :19 left and Ojai Black added another as Texas State held off Troy, 63-59 Saturday in a key Sun Belt Conference battle.
The victory moves Texas State (16-11, 9-6) into fifth place in the conference standings, breaking a tie with the Trojans (16-13, 8-7) with three games remaining in the regular season.
Kavin Gilder-Tilbury hit 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point line and hit 8 of 11 from the field overall to score 19 points for the Bobcats. Black added 13 points off the Texas State bench.
Jordan Varnado shot 11 for 17 and scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Troy. Jeremy Hollimon added 12 points off the bench as the Trojans shot 41.1 percent from the field (23 of 56).
Texas State plays host to South Alabama Monday, then closes out the season at Louisiana and ULM.
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ULM beats Appalachian State 75-64
BOONE, N.C. (AP) Travis Munnings scored 21 points with 8-for-11 shooting to lead ULM to a 75-64 win over Appalachian State on Saturday.
Nick Coppola added 16 points, Sam McDaniel had 14 and Marvin Jean-Pierre hauled in 10 rebounds for ULM. The Warhawks (8-20, 2-13 Sun Belt Conference) pulled away in the second half with 57 percent shooting from the field and finished 26 for 52 overall.
Trailing by 10 early in the second half, ULM took the lead for good during a 17-4 run that made it 50-45 with 9:28 to play. Munnings had two 3-pointers, two layups and a dunk in the go-ahead run.
Appalachian State (8-19, 3-13) twice cut the gap to a single point, first with two free throws from Patrick Good to trail 52-51 and then 54-53 after Isaac Johnson's dunk. ULM then pulled steadily away down the stretch.
Ronshad Shabazz led Appalachian State with 20 points and Johnson had 10 rebounds.