Saturday, January 10, 2015
Georgia State beats Troy 77-72
ATLANTA (AP) R.J. Hunter scored 37 points, including 15 of 17 from the line and 6 of 6 in the last 26 seconds, to lead Georgia State over Troy 77-72 on Saturday.
Hunter was 9 of 20 from the floor, with four 3-pointers, and had five assists. Kevin Ware added 13 points and Georgia State shot 55 percent overall.
Musa Abdul-Aleem led Troy with a career-high 33 points. Wesley Person Jr. added 17 points and Kelton Ford had 10.
Georgia State (10-6, 3-2 Sun Belt) jumped out quickly and led 17-12 behind a pair of Ware 3-pointers. Troy (6-7, 1-3) pulled even at 27 on Abdul-Aleem's trey and led 34-32 at intermission.
Abdul-Aleem's 3-pointer put the Trojans up 68-67 with 3:18 left, but Georgia State made 8 of 8 from the line down the stretch to escape with the win.
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Georgia Southern surges past South Alabama 81-73
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) Jelani Hewitt scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half as Georgia Southern surged to an 81-73 victory over South Alabama on Saturday.
The Eagles (10-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) trailed 34-31 at halftime, but Hewitt drained back-to-back 3-pointers as Georgia Southern opened the second half on an 11-2 run, claiming a 42-36 lead.
South Alabama (4-11, 2-3) fought back with a 12-5 run of its own briefly regaining the lead.
The Eagles' Mike Hughes made back-to-back steals - one leading to a Curtis Diamond 3-pointer and the other a Hughes layup - as part of a pivotal 11-3 run that pushed the lead to 70-61 inside four minutes. South Alabama didn't get closer than eight after that.
Ken Williams led the Jaguars with 23 points and three others scored 10 each.
Hughes had three of Georgia Southern's eight steals as the Panthers scored 25 points off turnovers.
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UALR beats Appalachian State 64-46
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Roger Woods scored 15 points, Gus Leeper added 12 more and hot-shooting Arkansas-Little Rock cruised to its first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season with a 64-46 win over Appalachian State on Saturday night.
Woods hit 7 of 12 from the floor and had six rebounds, while Leeper sank 6 of 10 for the Trojans, who shot 51 percent on 51 attempts and went 10 for 10 from the free-throw line. James White contributed 10 points in the win.
Little Rock (6-9, 1-4) took control in the first half with a 16-4 run capped by back-to-back buckets from Leeper to make it 22-11 with 10:38 left before the break. The Trojans carried a 36-24 advantage into halftime and continued to pull away over the final 20 minutes, holding Appalachian State (4-9, 1-3) to just 30 percent shooting.
Frank Eaves led the Mountaineers with 15 points.
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UL Monroe holds on, beats Texas State 62-59
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) Tylor Ongwae scored nine of his 17 points in the final five minutes and Louisiana-Monroe held on to beat Texas State 62-59 on Saturday night.
Louisiana-Monroe had an 11-point lead when Texas State used a 21-10 surge to tie the game at 50 with 5:16 left. Ongwae scored five straight points to make it 55-50. The teams traded buckets, and Wesley Davis hit 3 to pull Texas State within 57-55 with 2:21 remaining.
Ongwae scored four points, and Emani Gant and D.J. Brown answered for the Bobcats to keep it a two-point game with 3 seconds to go.
Majok Deng forced a turnover on an inbounds pass, and then split a pair of free throws to seal it for the Warhawks.
Marvin Williams scored 18 points to lead Louisiana-Monroe (9-6, 3-1 Sun Belt).
Gant had 14 points and Ethan Montalvo chipped in 12 for Texas State (9-5, 3-2).
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UT Arlington dispatches Arkansas State 77-50
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Johnny Hill scored 14 points to lead a balanced and overwhelming attack and Texas-Arlington dispatched Arkansas State 77-50 on Saturday.
Greg Gainey had 13 points for the Mavericks (8-6, 2-2 Sun Belt), Lonnie McClanahan added 12 and Kevin Hervey contributed 11 points as UTA shot 45 percent from the floor and was 23 of 29 from the line.
It was all Texas-Arlington in the first half, as Gainey nailed 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for a 6-0 lead and later, a pair of free throws by Kaelon Wilson made it 30-9 and the Mavericks strolled into halftime up 39-19. Arkansas State (6-7, 1-3) was just 6 of 28 (21 percent) in the first half.
It didn't get any better after intermission. PJ Hardwick's jumper with 5:07 left pushed the lead over 30 and the Mavericks were able to cruise to the win.
Sean Gardner paced Arkansas State with 16 points.